Image display apparatus and method for operating the same

ABSTRACT

A multifunctional display device and a method of controlling the same are disclosed herein. The method may include displaying a first card object in a first area of the display, displaying a second card object in a second area of the display, and partially displaying a third card object in a third area of the display to indicate that additional card objects are available for display. The first card object may be configured to display a video image and the second card object may have at least one link for connecting to a server. Based on a request to change the displayed card objects, the third card object may be displayed in the second area of the display and a fourth card object may be partially displayed in the third area of the display.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a Continuation application of prior U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/044,340 filed on Mar. 9, 2011, which claims thebenefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0086151, filed in Koreaon Sep. 2, 2010 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosure of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

A display apparatus and a method for operating the same are disclosedherein.

2. Background

Display apparatuses and methods for operating the same are known.However, they suffer from various disadvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer to likeelements, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a configuration of a broadcasting system thatincludes an image display apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a broadcasting system including an image display apparatusaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a signal flow between a ServiceProvider (SP) and an image display apparatus of FIG. 1 or 2, accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates data accessed during the operation of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image display apparatus according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an image display apparatus according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are block diagrams showing a set-top box and a displaydevice of an image display apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a plurality of external devices in communication with animage display apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a controller of an image display apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a platform architecture for an image displayapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates a platform architecture for an image displayapparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates a remote controller controlling a pointer displayedon an image display apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a remote controller according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 15-18 illustrate various types of a user interface (UI) in animage display apparatus according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary home screen displayed on an image displayapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a method for operating an image displayapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 21, 22 and 23 show home screens to illustrate the method of FIG.20;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a method for operating an image displayapparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 25 to 32 show views of the image display apparatus to illustratethe method of FIG. 24;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of a method for operating an image displayapparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 34, 35 and 36 show views of the image display apparatus toillustrate the method of FIG. 33;

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating a method for operating an imagedisplay apparatus according to a further embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 38 to 41 show views of search screens to illustrate the method ofFIG. 37; and

FIGS. 42, 43 and 44 show views of the image display apparatus accordingto another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a configuration of a broadcasting system thatincludes an image display apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the broadcasting system mayinclude a Content Provider (CP) 10, a Service Provider (SP) 20, aNetwork Provider (NP) 30, and a Home Network End Device (HNED) 40. TheHNED 40 corresponds to, for example, a client 100 which is an imagedisplay apparatus according to an embodiment. The image displayapparatus may be a network TV, a smart TV, an Internet Protocol TV(IPTV), etc.

The CP 10 may create and provide content. The CP 10 may be, for example,a terrestrial broadcaster, a cable System Operator (SO) or MultipleSystem Operator (MSO), a satellite broadcaster, an Internet broadcaster,as illustrated in FIG. 1, or another appropriate content provider.Besides broadcast content, the CP 10 may also provide variousapplications.

The SP 20 may provide content received from the CP 10 in a servicepackage. For instance, the SP 20 may package a first terrestrialbroadcasting, second terrestrial broadcasting, cable broadcasting,satellite broadcasting, Internet broadcasting, and/or applications andmay provide the package to users. The SP 20 may unicast or multicast aservice to the client 100. Unicast is a form of transmission in whichinformation is sent from only one transmitter to only one receiver. Inother words, unicast transmission is point-to-point, involving two nodesonly. In an example of unicast transmission, upon receipt of a requestfor data from a receiver, a server may transmit the data to a singlereceiver.

Multicast is a type of transmission or communication in which atransmitter transmits data to a group of receivers. For example, aserver may transmit data to a plurality of pre-registered receivers atone time. For multicast registration, the Internet Group ManagementProtocol (IGMP) may be used.

The NP 30 may provide a network over which a service may be provided tothe client 100. The client 100 may construct a home network and receivea service over the home network.

Content transmitted in the above-described broadcasting system may beprotected through conditional access or content protection. CableCardand Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS) are examples ofconditional access or content protection.

The client 100 may also transmit content over a network. In this case,the client 100 serves as a CP and thus the CP 10 may receive contentfrom the client 100. Therefore, an interactive content service or dataservice can be provided.

FIG. 2 shows a broadcasting system including an image display apparatusaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring toFIG. 2, the image display apparatus 100 may be connected to a broadcastnetwork and the Internet. The image display apparatus 100 may be, forexample, a network TV, a smart TV, an HbbTV, or another appropriatemultifunctional display device. The image display apparatus 100 mayinclude, for example, a broadcast interface 101, a section filter 102,an Application Information Table (AIT) filter 103, an application dataprocessor 104, a broadcast data processor 111, a media player 106, an IPprocessor 107, an Internet interface 108, and a runtime module 109. Theimage display apparatus 100 may receive AIT data, real-time broadcastcontent, application data, and stream events through the broadcastinterface 101. The real-time broadcast content may be referred to as alinear Audio/Video (A/V) content.

The section filter 102 may perform section filtering on the four typesof data received through the broadcast interface 101. The section filter102 may output the AIT data to the AIT filter 103, the linear A/Vcontent to the broadcast data processor 111, and the stream events andapplication data to the application data processor 104.

Meanwhile, the image display apparatus 100 may receive non-linear A/Vcontent and application data through the Internet interface 108. Thenon-linear A/V content may be, for example, a Content On Demand (CoD)application. The non-linear A/V content and the application data may betransmitted to the media player 106 and the runtime module 109,respectively. The runtime module 109 may include, for example, anapplication manager and a browser as illustrated in FIG. 2. Theapplication manager controls the life cycle of an interactiveapplication using the AIT data, for example. The browser displays andprocesses the interactive application.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operation for connecting to an SP and receivingchannel information from the SP in the image display apparatus of FIG. 1or 2. Referring to FIG. 3, an SP may perform an SP Discovery operation(S301) and the image display apparatus may transmit a Service ProviderAttachment Request signal to the SP (S302). Upon completion ofattachment to the SP, the image display apparatus may receiveprovisioning information from the SP (S303). Further, the image displayapparatus may receive Master System Information (SI) Tables, VirtualChannel Map Tables, Virtual Channel Description Tables, and SourceTables from the SP (S304 to S307). More specifically, SP Discovery is aprocess by which SPs that provide IPTV services may search for ServiceDiscovery (SD) servers having information about the offerings of theSPs.

In order to receive information about the SD servers, an SD serveraddress list can be detected, for example, using three methods.Specifically, the SD server address list may be obtained by an addresspreset in the image display apparatus or an address manually set by auser, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)-based SP Discovery, andDomain Name System Service (DNS SRV)-based SP Discovery. The imagedisplay apparatus accesses a specific SD server using the SD serveraddress list obtained through one of the above three methods andreceives a SP Discovery record from the specific SD server. The ServiceProvider Discovery record may include information needed to performService Discovery on an SP basis. The image display apparatus may thenstart a Service Discovery operation using the SP Discovery record. Theseoperations can be performed in a push mode or a pull mode.

The image display apparatus may access an SP attachment server specifiedby an SP attachment locator included in the SP Discovery record andperforms a registration procedure (or a service attachment procedure).Further, after accessing an authentication service server of an SPspecified by an SP authentication locator and performing anauthentication procedure, the image display apparatus may perform aservice authentication procedure. After service attachment issuccessfully performed, a server may transmit data in the form of aprovision information table to the image display apparatus.

During service attachment, the image display apparatus may include anIdentifier (ID) and location information thereof in data, and transmitthe data to the service attachment server. Thus, the service attachmentserver may specify a service that the image display apparatus hassubscribed to based on the ID and location information. In addition, theservice attachment server may provide, in the form of a provisioninginformation table, address information from which the image displayapparatus can obtain Service Information (SI). The address informationmay correspond to access information about a Master SI Table. Thismethod facilitates provisioning of a customized service to eachsubscriber.

The SI may be divided into a Master SI Table record for managing accessinformation and version information about a Virtual Channel Map, aVirtual Channel Map Table for providing a list of services in the formof a package, a Virtual Channel Description Table that contains detailsof each channel, and a Source Table that contains access informationabout actual services.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of data used in the signal flowillustrated in FIG. 3, and a relationship among data in the SI.Referring to FIG. 4, a Master SI Table may contain information about thelocation and version of each Virtual Channel MAP. Each Virtual ChannelMAP is identified by its Virtual Channel MAP identifier.VirtualChannelMAPVersion specifies the version number of the VirtualChannel MAP. If any of the tables connected to the Master SI Table inthe arrowed direction is modified, the versions of the modified tableand overlying tables thereof (up to the Master SI Table) areincremented. Accordingly, a change in any of the SI tables can bereadily identified by monitoring the Master SI Table.

For example, when the Source Table is changed, the version of the SourceTable is incremented and the version of the Virtual Channel DescriptionTable that references the Source Table is also incremented. Hence, achange in any lower table may lead to a change in its higher tables and,eventually, a change in the Master SI Table.

One Master SI Table may exist for each SP. However, in the case whereservice configurations differ for regions or subscribers (or subscribergroups), an SP may have a plurality of Master SI Tables in order toprovide a customized service on a region, subscriber or subscriber groupbasis. Thus, it is possible to provide a customized service to asubscriber according to a region in which the subscriber is located andsubscriber information regarding the subscriber.

A Virtual Channel Map Table may contain a list of one or more virtualchannels. A Virtual Channel Map includes not details of the channels butinformation about the locations of the details of the channels. In theVirtual Channel Map Table, VirtualChannelDescriptionLocation specifiesthe location of a Virtual Channel Description Table that providesvirtual channel descriptions.

The Virtual Channel Description Table contains the details of thevirtual channels. The Virtual Channel Description Table can be accessedusing VirtualChannelDescriptionLocation of the Virtual Channel MapTable.

A Source Table provides information necessary to access actual services(e.g. IP addresses, ports, AV Codecs, transmission protocols, etc.) on aservice basis.

The above-described Master SI Table, the Virtual Channel Map Table, theVirtual Channel Description Table and the Source Table may be deliveredin four logically separate flows, in a push mode or a pull mode. Forversion management, the Master SI Table may be multicast, and thus, aversion change may be monitored by receiving a multicast stream of theMaster SI Table.

FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of the image display apparatus ofFIG. 1 or 2 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 5, an image display apparatus 700 may includes anetwork interface 701, a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) manager 702, a service delivery manager 703, a Demultiplexer(DEMUX) 705, a Program Specific Information (PSI) & (Program and SystemInformation Protocol (PSIP) and/or SI) decoder 704, a display A/V and OnScreen Display (OSD) module 708, a service control manager 709, aservice discovery manager 710, a metadata manager 712, an SI & metadataDataBase (DB) 711, a User Interface (UI) manager 714, a service manager713, or another appropriate component based on the application of thedisplay apparatus.

The network interface 701 may transmit packets to and receives packetsfrom a network. Specifically, the network interface 701 may receiveservices and content from an SP over the network.

The TCP/IP manager 702 is involved in packet reception and transmissionof the image display apparatus 700, that is, packet delivery from asource to a destination. The TCP/IP manager 702 may classify receivedpackets according to appropriate protocols and may output the classifiedpackets to the service delivery manager 705, the service discoverymanager 710, the service control manager 709, and/or the metadatamanager 712.

The service delivery manager 703 may control received service data. Forexample, when controlling real-time streaming data, the service deliverymanager 703 may use the Real-time Transport Protocol/Real-time TransportControl Protocol (RTP/RTCP). If real-time streaming data is transmittedover RTP/RTCP, the service delivery manager 703 may parse the receivedreal-time streaming data using RTP and output the parsed real-timestreaming data to the DEMUX 705. The service deliver manager 703 mayalso store the parsed real-time streaming data in the SI & metadata DB711 under the control of the service manager 713. In addition, theservice delivery manager 703 may feed back network reception informationto a server that provides the real-time streaming data service usingRTCP.

The DEMUX 705 may demultiplex a received packet into audio data, videodata, and PSI data and outputs the audio data, video data, and PSI datato the audio decoder 706, the video decoder 707, and the PSI & (PSIPand/or SI) decoder 704, respectively.

The PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 704 may decode SI such as PSI. Morespecifically, the PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 704 may decode PSIsections, PSIP sections, or SI sections received from the DEMUX 705. ThePSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 704 may construct an SI DB by decodingthe received sections and may store the SI DB in the SI & metadata DB711.

The audio decoder 706 and the video decoder 707 may decode the audiodata and the video data received from the DEMUX 705 and may output thedecoded audio and video data through the display A/V and OSD module 708.

The UI manager 714 and the service manager 713 may manage the overallstate of the image display apparatus 700, provide UIs, and manage othermanagers. The UI manager 714 may provide a Graphical User Interface(GUI) in the form of an OSD and may perform a reception operationcorresponding to a key input received from the user. For example, uponreceipt of a key input signal regarding channel selection from the user,the UI manager 714 may transmit the key input signal to the servicemanager 713.

The service manager 713 may control managers associated with services,such as the service delivery manager 703, the service discovery manager710, the service control manager 709, and/or the metadata manager 712.The service manager 713 may also make a channel map and may select achannel using the channel map according to the key input signal receivedfrom the UI manager 714. The service manager 713 may set the audio/videoPacket ID (PID) of the selected channel based on SI about the channelreceived from the PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 704.

The service discovery manager 710 may provide information necessary toselect an SP that provides a service. Upon receipt of a channelselection signal from the service manager 713, the service discoverymanager 710 may detect a service based on the channel selection signal.

The service control manager 709 may manage selection and controlservices. For example, if a user selects live broadcasting, such as aconventional broadcasting service, the service control manager mayselect and control the service using Internet Group Management Protocol(IGMP) or Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). If the user selects Videoon Demand (VoD), the service control manager 709 may select and controlthe service. RTSP supports trick mode for real-time streaming. Further,the service control manager 709 may initialize and manage a sessionthrough an IP Multimedia Control (IMC) gateway using IP MultimediaSubsystem (IMS) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The protocolsdisclosed herein are given by way of example, and other protocols may beapplicable in other embodiments.

The metadata manager 712 may manage metadata related to services andstore the metadata in the SI & metadata DB 711. The SI & metadata DB 711may store the SI decoded by the PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 704, themetadata managed by the metadata manager 712, and the informationrequired to select an SP, received from the service discovery manager710. The SI & metadata DB 711 may store setup data for the system. TheSI & metadata DB 711 may be constructed in a Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM) ora flash memory. Moreover, an IMS gateway 705 is a gateway equipped withfunctions needed to access IMS-based IPTV services.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the image display apparatus of FIG. 1 or 2according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring toFIG. 6, the image display apparatus 100 may include a broadcastingreceiver 105, an external device interface 135, a memory 140, a userinput interface 150, a controller 170, a display 180, an audio outputcircuit 185, a power supply 190, a camera module, or another appropriatecomponent based on the application of the display apparatus 100. Thebroadcasting receiver 105 may include a tuner 110, a demodulator 120 anda network interface 130. As needed, the broadcasting receiver 105 may beconfigured so as to include only the tuner 110 and the demodulator 120or only the network interface 130.

The tuner 110 selects a Radio Frequency (RF) broadcast signalcorresponding to a channel selected by a user from among a plurality ofRF broadcast signals received through an antenna. The tuner 110 maydownconverts the selected RF broadcast signal into a digitalIntermediate Frequency (IF) signal or an analog baseband A/V signal.

More specifically, if the selected RF broadcast signal is a digitalbroadcast signal, the tuner 110 downconverts the selected RF broadcastsignal into a digital IF signal DIF. On the other hand, if the selectedRF broadcast signal is an analog broadcast signal, the tuner 110downconverts the selected RF broadcast signal into an analog basebandA/V signal, CVBS/SIF. That is, the tuner 110 may be a hybrid tunercapable of processing not only digital broadcast signals but also analogbroadcast signals. The analog baseband A/V signal CVBS/SIF may bedirectly input to the controller 170.

The tuner 110 may be capable of receiving RF broadcast signals from anAdvanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) single-carrier system orfrom a Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) multi-carrier system.

The tuner 110 may sequentially select a number of RF broadcast signalscorresponding to all broadcast channels previously stored in the imagedisplay apparatus 100 by a channel add function from a plurality of RFsignals received through the antenna and may downconvert the selected RFbroadcast signals into IF signals or baseband A/V signals.

The broadcast signal may be input through the external device interface135 or network interface 130 in addition to the tuner 110. In oneembodiment, the image display apparatus may not include the tuner.

The demodulator 120 receives the digital IF signal DIF from the tuner110 and demodulates the digital IF signal DIF. For example, if thedigital IF signal DIF is an ATSC signal, the demodulator 120 may perform8-Vestigal SideBand (VSB) demodulation on the digital IF signal DIF. Thedemodulator 120 may also perform channel decoding. For channel decoding,the demodulator 120 may include a Trellis decoder (not shown), ade-interleaver (not shown) and a Reed-Solomon decoder (not shown) so asto perform Trellis decoding, de-interleaving and Reed-Solomon decoding.

For example, if the digital IF signal DIF is a DVB signal, thedemodulator 120 performs Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division MultipleAccess (COFDMA) demodulation upon the digital IF signal DIF. Thedemodulator 120 may also perform channel decoding. For channel decoding,the demodulator 120 may include a convolution decoder, a de-interleaver,and/or a Reed-Solomon decoder so as to perform convolution decoding,de-interleaving, and/or Reed-Solomon decoding, respectively.

The demodulator 120 may perform demodulation and channel decoding on thedigital IF signal DIF, thereby obtaining a stream signal TS. The streamsignal TS may be a signal in which a video signal, an audio signal and adata signal are multiplexed. For example, the stream signal TS may be anMPEG-2 TS in which an MPEG-2 video signal and a Dolby AC-3 audio signalare multiplexed. An MPEG-2 TS may include a 4-byte header and a 184-bytepayload. In order to properly handle not only ATSC signals but also DVBsignals, the demodulator 120 may include an ATSC demodulator and a DVBdemodulator.

The stream signal TS may be input to the controller 170 and thussubjected to demultiplexing and A/V signal processing. The processedvideo and audio signals are output to the display 180 and the audiooutput circuit 185, respectively.

The external device interface 135 may serve as an interface between anexternal device and the image display apparatus 100. For interfacing,the external device interface 135 may include an A/V Input/Output (I/O)interface and/or a wireless communication module.

The external device interface 135 may be connected to an external devicesuch as a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) player, a Blu-ray player, a gameconsole, a camera, a camcorder, or a computer (e.g., a laptop computer),wirelessly or by wire. Then, the external device interface 135externally receives video, audio, and/or data signals from the externaldevice and transmits the received input signals to the controller 170.In addition, the external device interface 135 may output video, audio,and data signals processed by the controller 170 to the external device.In order to receive or transmit audio, video, and data signals from orto the external device, the external device interface 135 may includesthe A/V I/O interface and/or the wireless communication module.

The A/V I/O interface of the external device interface 135 may include aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) port, a Composite Video Banking Sync (CVBS)port, a Component port, a Super-video (S-video) (analog) port, a DigitalVisual Interface (DVI) port, a High-Definition Multimedia Interface(HDMI) port, a Red-Green-Blue (RGB) port, a D-sub port, or anotherappropriate port for connecting to an external device.

The wireless communication module of the external device interface 135may perform short-range wireless communication with other electronicdevices. For short-range wireless communication, the wirelesscommunication module may use Bluetooth, Radio-Frequency IDentification(RFID), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Ultra WideBand (UWB), ZigBee,and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA).

The external device interface 135 may be connected to various set-topboxes through at least one of the above-described ports, and thus, mayreceive data from or transmit data to the various set-top boxes. Theexternal device interface 135 may receive applications or an applicationlist from an adjacent external device and provide the applications orthe application list to the controller 170 or the memory 140.

The network interface 130 may serve as an interface between the imagedisplay apparatus 100 and a wired/wireless network such as the Internet.The network interface 130 may include an Ethernet port for connection toa wired network. The wireless communication module of the externalsignal I/O circuit 128 may wirelessly access the Internet. Forconnection to wireless networks, the network interface 130 may useWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) (i.e., Wi-Fi), Wireless Broadband(WiBro), World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), High SpeedDownlink Packet Access (HSDPA), or another wireless communicationprotocol.

The network interface 130 may transmit data to or receive data fromanother user or electronic device over a connected network or anothernetwork linked to the connected network. For example, the networkinterface 130 may transmit data stored in the image display apparatus100 to a user or electronic device selected from among users orelectronic devices pre-registered with the image display apparatus 100.

The network interface 130 may access a specific Web page over aconnected network or another network linked to the connected network.That is, the network interface 130 may access a specific Web page over anetwork and transmit or receive data to or from a server. Additionally,the network interface 130 may receive content or data from a CP or anNP. Specifically, the network interface 130 may receive content such asmovies, advertisements, games, VoD files, broadcast signals as well asinformation related to the content from a CP or an NP. Also, the networkinterface 130 may receive update information about firmware and updatefiles of the firmware from the NP. The network interface 130 maytransmit data over the Internet or to the CP or the NP. The networkinterface 130 may selectively receive a desired application among openapplications over a network.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when a game application isexecuted in the image display apparatus 100, the network interface 130may transmit data to or receive data from a user terminal connected tothe image display apparatus 100 through a network. In addition, thenetwork interface 130 may transmit specific data to or receive specificdata from a server that records game scores.

The memory 140 may store various programs necessary for the controller170 to process and control signals, and may also store processed video,audio and data signals. The memory 140 may temporarily store a video,audio and/or data signal received from the external device interface 135or the network interface 130. The memory 140 may store information aboutbroadcast channels by the channel-add function. The memory 140 may storeapplications or a list of applications received from the external deviceinterface 135 or the network interface 130. The memory 140 may alsostore a variety of platforms. In one embodiment, when the image displayapparatus 100 executes a game application, the memory 140 may storeuser-specific information and game play information about a userterminal used as a game controller.

The memory 140 may include, for example, at least one of a flashmemory-type storage medium, a hard disk-type storage medium, amultimedia card micro-type storage medium, a card-type memory (e.g. aSecure Digital (SD) or eXtreme Digital (XD) memory), a Random AccessMemory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM) such as an Electrically Erasableand Programmable Read Only Memory, or another appropriate type ofstorage device. The image display apparatus 100 may reproduce contentstored in the memory 140 (e.g. video files, still image files, musicfiles, text files, or application files). While the memory 140 is shownin FIG. 6 as being configured to be separate from the controller 170,the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the memory140 may be incorporated into the controller 170.

The user input interface 150 transmits a signal received from the userto the controller 170 or transmits a signal received from the controller170 to the user. For example, the user input interface 150 may receivevarious user input signals such as a power-on/off signal, a channelselection signal, and a screen setting signal from a remote controller200 or may transmit a signal received from the controller 170 to theremote controller 200, according to various communication schemes, forexample, RF communication and IR communication.

For example, the user input interface 150 may provide the controller 170with user input signals or control signals received from local keys,such as inputs of a power key, a channel key, and a volume key, andsetting values. Also, the user input interface 150 may transmit acontrol signal received from a sensor that senses a user gesture to thecontroller 170 or transmit a signal received from the controller 170 tothe sensor. The sensor may include a touch sensor, a voice sensor, aposition sensor, a motion sensor, or another appropriate type of sensor.

The controller 170 may demultiplex the stream signal TS received fromthe tuner 110, the demodulator 120, or the external device interface 135into a number of signals and process the demultiplexed signals intoaudio and video data. The video signal processed by the controller 170may be displayed as an image on the display 180. The video signalprocessed by the controller 170 may also be transmitted to an externaloutput device through the external device interface 135. The audiosignal processed by the controller 170 may be output to the audio outputdevice 185. Also, the audio signal processed by the controller 170 maybe transmitted to the external output device through the external deviceinterface 135.

The controller 170 may include a DEMUX and a video processor. Inaddition, the controller 170 may provide overall control to the imagedisplay apparatus 100. For example, the controller 170 may control thetuner 110 to select an RF broadcast signal corresponding to auser-selected channel or a pre-stored channel.

The controller 170 may control the image display apparatus 100 accordingto a user command received through the user input interface 150 oraccording to an internal program. The controller 170 may also access anetwork and download an application or application list selected by theuser to the image display apparatus 100 over the network. For example,the controller 170 may control the tuner 110 to receive a channelselected according to a specific channel selection command receivedthrough the user input interface 150 and process a video, audio and/ordata signal of the selected channel. The controller 170 may output theprocessed video or audio signal along with information about theuser-selected channel to the display 180 or the audio output device 185.

The controller 170 may also output a video or audio signal received froman external device such as a camera or a camcorder through the externaldevice interface 135 to the display 180 or the audio output device 185according to an external device video playback command received throughthe external device interface 150.

The controller 170 may control the display 180 to display images. Forinstance, the controller 170 may control the display 180 to display abroadcast image received from the tuner 110, an external input imagereceived through the external device interface 135, an image receivedthrough the network interface 130, or an image stored in the memory 140.The image displayed on the display 180 may be a Two-Dimensional (2D) orThree-Dimensional (3D) still image or moving picture.

The controller 170 may control content playback. The content may includeany content stored in the image display apparatus 100, receivedbroadcast content, and external input content. The content includes atleast one of a broadcast image, an external input image, an audio file,a still image, a Web page, or a text file.

In one embodiment, upon receipt of a go-to-home screen input, thecontroller 170 may control display of the home screen on the display180. The home screen may include a plurality of card objects classifiedaccording to content sources. The card objects may include at least onecard object representing a thumbnail list of broadcast channels, a cardobject representing a broadcast program guide, a card objectrepresenting a program reservation list or a program recording list, ora card object representing a media list of a device connected to theimage display apparatus 100. The card objects may further include atleast one of a card object representing a list of connected externaldevices or a card object representing a call-associated list. The homescreen may further include an application menu with at least oneapplication that can be executed.

The image display apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure may include a card object generator that generates anddisplays the card object. In one embodiment, the card object generatormay be an OSD generator 340 or a functional part included in thecontroller or another component.

Upon receipt of a card object move input, the controller 170 may controlmovement of a card object corresponding to the card object move input onthe display 180, or if the card object is not displayed on the display180, the controller 170 may control the display to show the card objecton the display 180. When a card object is selected from among the cardobjects on the home screen, the controller 170 may control display of animage corresponding to the selected card object on the display 180.

The controller 170 may control display of an input broadcast image andan object representing information about the broadcast image in a cardobject representing broadcast images. The broadcast image may be fixedin size through a lock setting. The controller 170 may also control adisplay of a set-up object for at least one of image setting, audiosetting, screen setting, reservation setting, setting of a pointercontrolled by the remote controller, or network setting on the homescreen.

The controller 170 may control display of a login object, a help object,or an exit object on a part of the home screen. The controller 170 mayalso control display of an object representing the total number ofavailable card objects or the number of card objects displayed on thedisplay 180 among all card objects, on a part of the home screen.Moreover, if one of the card objects displayed on the display 180 isselected, the controller 170 may display the selected card object as afull screen image to cover the entirety of the display 180.

Upon receipt of an incoming call at a connected external device or theimage display apparatus 100, the controller 170 may control the displayto focus-on or shift a call-related card object among the plurality ofcard objects. Furthermore, if an application view menu item is selected,the controller 170 may control display of applications or a list ofapplications that are available in the image display apparatus ordownloadable from an external network.

The controller 170 may control installation and execution of anapplication downloaded from the external network along with various UIs.Also, the controller 170 may control display of an image related to theexecuted application on the display 180, upon user selection.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the image displayapparatus 100 provides a game application, the controller 170 maycontrol assignment of player IDs to specific user terminals, creation ofgame play information by executing the game application, transmission ofthe game play information to the user terminals through the networkinterface 130, and reception of the game play information at the userterminals.

The controller 170 may control detection of user terminals connected tothe image display apparatus 100 over a network through the networkinterface 130, display of a list of the detected user terminals on thedisplay 180, and reception of a selection signal indicating a userterminal selected for use as a user controller from among the listeduser terminals through the user input interface 150.

The controller 170 may control output of a game play screen of the gameapplication, inclusive of player information about each user terminaland game play information, through the display 180. The controller 170may determine the specific signal received from a user terminal throughthe network interface 130 as game play information, and thus, controlthe game play information to be reflected in the game application inprogress. Moreover, the controller 170 may control transmission of thegame play information about the game application to a specific serverconnected to the image display apparatus 100 over a network through thenetwork interface 130. In one embodiment, upon receipt of informationabout a change in the game play information from the server through thenetwork interface 130, the controller 170 may control output of anotification message in a predetermined area of the display 180.

The image display apparatus 100 may further include a channel browsingprocessor configured to generate thumbnail images corresponding tochannel signals or external input signals. The channel browsingprocessor may extract some of the video frames of each of stream signalsTS received from the demodulator 120 or stream signals received from theexternal device interface 135 and display the extracted video frames onthe display 180 as thumbnail images. The thumbnail images may bedirectly output to the controller 170 or may be output after beingencoded.

Also, it is possible to encode the thumbnail images into a stream andoutput the stream to the controller 170. The controller 170 may displaya thumbnail list including a plurality of received thumbnail images onthe display 180. The thumbnail images may be updated sequentially orsimultaneously in the thumbnail list. Therefore, the user can readilyidentify the content of broadcast programs received through a pluralityof channels.

Examples of thumbnails and methods of using the same are disclosed inapplication Ser. No. 12/651,730 (Attorney Docket No. HI-0447), which ishereby incorporated by reference.

The display 180 may convert a processed video signal, a processed datasignal, and an OSD signal received from the controller 170 or a videosignal and a data signal received from the external device interface 135into RGB signals to generate drive signals. The display 180 may bevarious types of displays such as a Plasma Display Panel (PDP), a LiquidCrystal Display (LCD), an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display, aflexible display, a 3D display, or another appropriate type of display.The display 180 may also be a touch screen that can be used not only asan output device but also as an input device.

The audio output device 185 may receive a processed audio signal (e.g.,a stereo signal, a 3.1-channel signal or a 5.1-channel signal) from thecontroller 170 and output the received audio signal as sound. The audiooutput device 185 may employ various speaker configurations.

To sense a user gesture, the image display apparatus 100 may furtherinclude a sensor circuit that has at least one of a touch sensor, avoice sensor, a position sensor, and a motion sensor, as stated before.A signal sensed by the sensor may be output to the controller 170through the user input interface 150.

The image display apparatus 100 may further include the camera forcapturing images of a user. Image information captured by the camera maybe input to the controller 170. The controller 170 may sense a usergesture from an image captured by the camera or a signal sensed by thesensor. The controller 170 may also combine the captured image and thesensed signal to generate an input signal.

The power supply 190 supplies power to the image display apparatus 100.Particularly, the power supply 190 may supply power to the controller170, the display 180, and the audio output device 185, which may beimplemented as a System On Chip (SOC). The power supply 190 may includea converter for converting Alternating Current (AC) into Direct Current(DC). If the display 180 is configured with, for example, a liquidcrystal panel having a plurality of backlight lamps, the power supply190 may further include an inverter capable of performing Pulse WidthModulation (PWM) to control the luminance or dimming.

The remote controller 200 may transmit a user input to the user inputinterface 150. For transmission of user input, the remote controller 200may use various communication techniques such as Bluetooth, RFcommunication, IR communication, UWB, ZigBee, or another appropriatecommunication protocol.

In addition, the remote controller 200 may receive a video signal, anaudio signal or a data signal from the user input interface 150 andoutput the received signals visually, audibly, or as vibrations.

The above-described image display apparatus 100 may be a fixed digitalbroadcast receiver capable of receiving at least one of ATSC (8-VSB)broadcast programs, DVB-T (COFDM) broadcast programs, and/or ISDB-T(BST-OFDM) broadcast programs.

The block diagram of the image display apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG.6 is purely exemplary. Depending upon the specifications of the imagedisplay apparatus 100 in actual implementation, the components of theimage display apparatus 100 may be combined or omitted or new componentsmay be added. That is, two or more components are incorporated into onecomponent or one component may be configured as separate components, asneeded.

Unlike the configuration illustrated in FIG. 6, the image displayapparatus 100 may be configured so as to receive and playback videocontent through the network interface 130 or the external deviceinterface 135, without the tuner 100 and the demodulator 120.

The image display apparatus 100 is an example of image signal processingapparatus that processes a stored image or an input image. Otherexamples of the image signal processing apparatus include a set-top boxwithout the display 180 and the audio output device 185, a DVD player, aBlu-ray player, a game console, a computer, or another appropriatedevice that processes image signals. The set-top box is described infurther detail hereinbelow with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are block diagrams showing the image display apparatusconfigured separately as a set-top box and a display device. Referringto FIG. 7, a set-top box 250 and a display device 300 may transmit orreceive data wirelessly or by wire. The set-top box 250 may include anetwork interface 255, a memory 258, a signal processor 260, a userinput interface 263, and an external device interface 265.

The network interface 255 serves as an interface between the set-top box250 and a wired/wireless network such as the Internet. The networkinterface 255 may transmit data to or receive data from another user oranother electronic device over a connected network or over anothernetwork linked to the connected network.

The memory 258 may store programs necessary for the signal processor 260to process and control signals and temporarily store a video, audioand/or data signal received from the external device interface 265 orthe network interface 255. The memory 258 may also store platforms,described in further detail with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12hereinafter.

The signal processor 260 processes an input signal. For example, thesignal processor 260 may demultiplex or decode an input video or audiosignal. For signal processing, the signal processor 260 may include avideo decoder or an audio decoder. The processed video or audio signalmay be transmitted to the display device 300 through the external deviceinterface 265.

The user input interface 263 may transmit a signal received from theuser to the signal processor 260 or a signal received from the signalprocessor 260 to the user. For example, the user input interface 263 mayreceive various control signals such as a power on/off signal, anoperation input signal, or a setting input signal through activation ofa local key or the remote controller 200, and may output the controlsignals to the signal processor 260.

The external device interface 265 may serve as an interface between theset-top box 250 and an external device that is connected wirelessly orby wire, particularly the display device 300, for signal transmission orreception. The external device interface 265 may also interface with anexternal device such as a game console, a camera, a camcorder, acomputer (e.g. a laptop computer), or another appropriate externaldevice, for data transmission or reception.

The set-top box 250 may further include a media input device for mediaplayback. The media input device may be a Blu-ray input device, forexample. That is, the set-top box 250 may include a Blu-ray player.After signal processing such as demultiplexing or decoding in the signalprocessor 260, a media signal from a Blu-ray disk may be transmitted tothe display device 300 through the external device interface 265 so asto be displayed on the display device 300.

The display device 300 may include a tuner 270, an external deviceinterface 273, a demodulator 275, a memory 278, a controller 280, a userinput interface 283, a display 290, and an audio output device 295. Thetuner 270, the demodulator 275, the memory 278, the controller 280, theuser input interface 283, the display 290, and the audio output device295 are identical respectively to the tuner 110, the demodulator 120,the memory 140, the controller 170, the user input interface 150, thedisplay 180, and the audio output device 185 as described in referenceto FIG. 6, and thus, a description thereof is not repeated hereinbelow.

The external device interface 273 serves as an interface between thedisplay device 300 and a wireless or wired external device, particularlythe set-top box 250, for data transmission or reception. Hence, a videosignal or an audio signal received through the set-top box 250 may beoutput through the display 290 or the audio output unit 295 through thecontroller 280.

Referring to FIG. 8, the configuration of the set-top box 250 and thedisplay device 300 illustrated in FIG. 8 is similar to that of theset-top box 250 and the display device 300 as described with referenceto FIG. 7, except that the tuner 270 and the demodulator 275 areprovided in the set-top box 250, not in the display device 300. Here,the signal processor 260 may process a broadcast signal received throughthe tuner 270 and the demodulator 275. The user input interface 263 mayreceive a channel selection input, a channel store input, etc.

FIG. 9 illustrates an operation for communicating with third devices inthe previously disclosed embodiments of the image display apparatusaccording to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 9, the image displayapparatus 100 may communicate with a broadcasting station 210, a networkserver 220, or an external device 230.

The image display apparatus 100 may receive a broadcast signal includinga video signal from the broadcasting station 210. The image displayapparatus 100 may process the audio and video signals embedded in thebroadcast signal or the data signal of the broadcast signal, forexample, into a format suitable for transmission from the image displayapparatus 100. The image display apparatus 100 may output images orsound based on the processed video or audio signal.

Meanwhile, the image display apparatus 100 may communicate with thenetwork server 220. The network server 200 is capable of transmittingsignals to and receiving signals from the image display apparatus 100over a network. For example, the network server 220 may be a portableterminal that can be connected to the image display apparatus 100through a wired or wireless base station. In addition, the networkserver 200 may provide content to the image display apparatus 100 overthe Internet. A CP may provide content to the image display apparatus100 through the network server 220.

The image display apparatus 100 may communicate with the external device230. The external device 230 can transmit and receive signals directlyto and from the image display apparatus 100 wirelessly or by wire. Forinstance, the external device 230 may be a media memory device or amultimedia player. That is, the external device 230 may be any of acamera, a DVD player, a Blu-ray player, a PC, or another appropriatedevice based on the required functionality.

The broadcasting station 210, the network server 220 or the externaldevice 230 may transmit a signal including a video signal to the imagedisplay apparatus 100. The image display apparatus 100 may display animage based on the video signal included in the received signal. Also,the image display apparatus 100 may transmit a signal received from thebroadcasting station 210 or the network server 220 to the externaldevice 230, and may transmit a signal received from the external device230 to the broadcasting station 210 or the network server 220. That is,the image display apparatus 100 may transmit content included in signalsreceived from the broadcasting station 210, the network server 220, andthe external device 230, as well as playback the content immediately.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the controller of FIG. 6. Referring toFIG. 10, the controller 170 may include a DEMUX 310, a video processor320, an OSD generator 340, a mixer 350, a Frame Rate Converter (FRC)355, and a formatter 360. The controller 170 may further include anaudio processor and a data processor.

The DEMUX 310 may demultiplex an input stream. For example, the DEMUX310 may demultiplex an MPEG-2 TS into a video signal, an audio signal,or a data signal. The input stream signal may be received from the tuner110, the demodulator 120, or the external device interface 135.

The video processor 320 may process the demultiplexed video signal. Forvideo signal processing, the video processor 320 may include a videodecoder 325 and a scaler 335. The video decoder 325 decodes thedemultiplexed video signal and the scaler 335 scales the resolution ofthe decoded video signal so that the video signal can be displayed onthe display 180.

The video decoder 325 may be provided with decoders that operate basedon various standards. If the demultiplexed video signal is, for example,an MPEC-2 encoded video signal, the video signal may be decoded by anMPEC-2 decoder. On the other hand, if the video signal is anH.264-encoded DMB or DVB-handheld (DVB-H) signal, the video signal maybe decoded by an H.264 decoder. The video signal decoded by the videoprocessor 320 may be provided to the mixer 350.

The OSD generator 340 may generate an OSD signal autonomously or basedon to user input. For example, the OSD generator 340 may generatesignals by which a variety of information is displayed as images or texton the display 180, according to control signals received from the userinput interface 150. The OSD signal may include various data such as aUI, a variety of menu screens, widgets, icons, etc. For example, the OSDgenerator 340 may generate a signal by which subtitles are displayedwith a broadcast image or Electronic Program Guide (EPG)-basedbroadcasting information.

The mixer 350 may mix the decoded video signal with the OSD signal andoutput the mixed signal to the formatter 360. As the decoded broadcastvideo signal or the external input signal is mixed with the OSD signal,an OSD may be overlaid on the broadcast image or the external inputimage.

The FRC 355 may change the frame rate of an input image. For example, aframe rate of 60 Hz may be converted into a frame rate of 120 or 240 Hz.When the frame rate is to be changed from 60 Hz to 120 Hz, a first framemay be inserted between the first frame and a second frame, or apredicted third frame may be inserted between the first and secondframes. If the frame rate is to be changed from 60 Hz to 240 Hz, threeidentical frames or three predicted frames may be inserted between thefirst and second frames. It is also possible to maintain the frame rateof the input image without frame rate conversion.

The formatter 360 changes the format of the signal received from the FRC355 to be suitable for the display 180. For example, the formatter 360may convert a received signal into an RGB data signal. The RGB signalmay be output in the form of a Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVDS) ormini-LVDS.

The audio processor of the controller 170 may process a demultiplexedaudio signal. For audio signal processing, the audio processor may havea plurality of decoders. If the demultiplexed audio signal is a codedaudio signal, the audio processor of the controller 170 may decode theaudio signal. For example, the demultiplexed audio signal may be decodedby an MPEG-2 decoder, an MPEG-4 decoder, an Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)decoder, an AC-3 decoder, or another type of decoder based on the formatof the audio signal. The audio processor of the controller 170 may alsoadjust the bass, treble or volume of the audio signal.

The data processor of the controller 170 may process the data signalobtained by demultiplexing the input stream signal. For example, if thedata signal is an encoded signal such as an EPG which includesbroadcasting information specifying the start time, end time, etc. ofscheduled broadcast TV or radio programs, the controller 170 may decodethe data signal. Examples of an EPG include ATSC-Program and SystemInformation Protocol (PSIP) information and DVB-Service Information(SI). ATSC-PSIP information or DVB-SI may be included in the header of aTS, i.e., a 4-byte header of an MPEG-2 TS.

The controller 170 as embodied and broadly described herein is notlimited to the configuration as illustrated in the block diagram of FIG.10. Depending upon the specifications of the controller 170, thecomponents of the controller 170 may be combined, omitted, or additionalcomponents may be added to the controller 170.

FIG. 11 illustrates a platform architecture implemented in the imagedisplay apparatus according to one embodiment, and FIG. 12 illustratesanother platform architecture implemented in the image display apparatusaccording to another embodiment.

A platform for the image display apparatus may have OS-based software toimplement the above-described operations. Referring to FIG. 11, aplatform for the image display apparatus may be a separate type. Forexample, the platform may be designed separately as a legacy systemplatform 400 and a smart system platform 405. An OS kernel 410 may beshared between the legacy system platform 400 and the smart systemplatform 405.

The legacy system platform 400 may include a stack including a driver420, middleware 430, and an application layer 450 on the OS kernel 410.On the other hand, the smart system platform 405 may have a stackincluding a library 435, a framework 440, and an application layer 455on the OS kernel 410.

The OS kernel 410 is the core of an operating system. When the imagedisplay apparatus is driven, the OS kernel 410 may be responsible forthe operation of at least one of hardware drivers, security protectionfor hardware and processors in the image display apparatus, efficientmanagement of system resources, memory management, hardware interfacingby hardware abstraction, multi-processing, or scheduling associated withthe multi-processing. Meanwhile, the OS kernel 410 may further performpower management operations.

The hardware drivers of the OS kernel 410 may include, for example, atleast one of a display driver, a Wi-Fi driver, a Bluetooth driver, a USBdriver, an audio driver, a power manager, a binder driver, or a memorydriver. Moreover, the hardware drivers of the OS kernel 410 may alsoinclude drivers for hardware devices within the OS kernel 410. Thehardware drivers may include a character device driver, a block devicedriver, and/or a network device driver. The block device driver may needa buffer to buffer data on a block basis as data may be transmitted on ablock basis. The character device driver may not need a buffer sincedata may be transmitted on a basic data unit basis, that is, on acharacter basis. The OS kernel 410 may be implemented based on any ofvarious OSs such as Unix (Linux), Windows, etc. The OS kernel 410 may bea general-purpose open OS kernel which can be implemented in otherelectronic devices.

The driver 420 may be interposed between the OS kernel 410 and themiddleware 430. Along with the middleware 430, the driver 420 may drivedevices for operations of the application layer 450. For example, thedriver 420 may include a driver(s) for a microcomputer, a displaymodule, a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU), the FRC, a General-PurposeInput/Output (GPIO) pin, a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI),a System Decoder (SDEC) or DEMUX, a Video Decoder (VDEC), an AudioDecoder (ADEC), a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), and/or anInter-Integrated Circuit (I2C). These drivers may operate in conjunctionwith the hardware drivers of the OS kernel 410.

In addition, the driver 420 may further include a driver for the remotecontroller 200, especially a pointing device as described below. Theremote controller driver may reside in the OS kernel 410 or themiddleware 430, instead of the driver 420.

The middleware 430 may reside between the OS kernel 410 and theapplication layer 450. The middleware 430 may mediate between differenthardware devices or different software programs for data transmissionand reception between the hardware devices or the software programs.Therefore, the middleware 430 can provide standard interfaces, supportvarious environments, and enable interaction between tasks conforming toheterogeneous communication protocols. Examples of the middleware 430 inthe legacy system platform 400 may include Multimedia and Hypermediainformation coding Experts Group (MHEG) and Advanced Common ApplicationPlatform (ACAP) as data broadcasting-related middleware, PSIP or SImiddleware as broadcasting information-related middleware, or DLNAmiddleware as peripheral device communication-related middleware.

The application layer 450 that runs atop the middleware 430 in thelegacy system platform 400 may include, for example, UI applicationsassociated with various menus in the image display apparatus. Theapplication layer 450 may allow editing and updating over a network byuser selection. With use of the application layer 450, the user mayenter a desired menu among various UIs by manipulating the remotecontroller 210 while viewing a broadcast program. The application layer450 may further include at least one of a TV guide application, aBluetooth application, a reservation application, a Digital VideoRecorder (DVR) application, and a hotkey application.

In the smart system platform 405, the library 435 may be positionedbetween the OS kernel 410 and the framework 440, and may form the basisof the framework 440. For example, the library 435 may include SecureSocket Layer (SSL) being a security-related library, WebKit being a Webengine-related library, C library (libc), and Media Framework being amedia-related library that specifies, for example, a video format and anaudio format. The library 435 may be written in C or C++. Also, thelibrary 435 may be exposed to a developer through the framework 440.

The library 435 may include a runtime 437 with a core Java library and aVirtual Machine (VM). The runtime 437 and the library 435 may form thebasis of the framework 440.

The VM may be a virtual machine that enables concurrent execution of aplurality of instances, that is, multi-tasking. For each application ofthe application layer 455, a VM may be allocated and executed. Forscheduling or interconnection between instances, the binder driver ofthe OS kernel 410 may operate. The binder driver and the runtime 437 mayconnect Java applications to C-based libraries. The library 435 and theruntime 437 may correspond to the middleware 430 of the legacy systemplatform 400.

In the smart system platform 405, the framework 440 may include programson which applications of the application layer 455 are based. Theframework 440 may be compatible with any application and may allowcomponent reuse, movement, or exchange. The framework 440 may includesupporting programs and programs for interconnecting different softwarecomponents. For example, the framework 440 may include an activitymanager related to activities of applications, a notification manager,and/or a CP for abstracting common information between applications.This framework 440 may be written in Java.

The application layer 455 on top of the framework 440 may include avariety of programs that are executed and displayed in the image displayapparatus. The application layer 455 may include, for example, a coreapplication suite having at least one of an e-mail, Short MessageService (SMS), calendar, map, browser, or another appropriateapplication based on the desired functionality. The application layer455 may be written in Java.

In the application layer 455, applications may be categorized intouser-undeletable applications 465 or user-installed/deletableapplications 475. User-undeletable applications 465 may be applicationsstored in the image display apparatus 100 that cannot be modified.User-installable or user-deletable applications 475 may includeapplication which may be downloaded from an external device or a networkand stored in the image display apparatus.

With the applications of the application layer 455, a variety offunctions such as Internet telephony, VoD, Web album, Social NetworkingService (SNS), Location-Based Service (LBS), map service, Web browsing,and application search may be performed through network access. Inaddition, other functions such as gaming and schedule management may beperformed by the applications.

Referring to FIG. 12, a platform for the image display apparatusaccording to another embodiment may be an integrated type. Theintegrated platform may include an OS kernel 510, a driver 520,middleware 530, a framework 540, and an application layer 550. Comparedto the separate-type platform, as illustrated in FIG. 11, theintegrated-type platform is characterized by the absence of the library435. Moreover, in this embodiment, the application layer 550 may be anintegrated layer. The driver 520 and the framework 540 correspond to thedriver 420 and the framework 440 of FIG. 5, respectively.

The library 435 of FIG. 11 may be incorporated into the middleware 530.That is, the middleware 530 may include both the legacy systemmiddleware and the image display system middleware. As previouslydescribed, the legacy system middleware may include MHEG or ACAP as databroadcasting-related middleware, PSIP or SI middleware as broadcastinginformation-related middleware, and DLNA middleware as peripheral devicecommunication-related middleware, whereas the image display systemmiddleware may include SSL as a security-related library, WebKit as aWeb engine-related library, libc, and Media Framework as a media-relatedlibrary. The middleware 530 may further include the runtime aspreviously described.

The application layer 550 may include a menu-related application, a TVguide application, a reservation application, etc. as legacy systemapplications. The application layer 550 may also include an e-mail, SMS,a calendar, a map, and/or a browser as image display systemapplications.

In the application layer 550, applications may be categorized intouser-undeletable applications 565 that are stored in the image displayapparatus and user-installable or user-deletable applications 575 thatare downloaded from an external device or a network and stored in theimage display apparatus.

Based on the afore-described platforms illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, avariety of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and SoftwareDevelopment Kits (SDKs) necessary to develop applications may be opened.APIs may implement functions that provide connectivity to specificsub-routines for execution of the functions within a program. APIs mayalso be implemented as programs.

For example, sources related to hardware drivers of the OS kernel 410,such as a display driver, a WiFi driver, a Bluetooth driver, a USBdriver or an audio driver, may be opened. Related sources within thedriver 420 such as a driver for a microcomputer, a display module, aGPU, an FRC, an SDEC, a VDEC, an ADEC or a pointing device may beopened. In addition, sources related to PSIP or SI middleware asbroadcasting information-related middleware or sources related to DLNAmiddleware may be opened. The various open APIs may allow developers tocreate applications executable in the image display apparatus 100 orapplications required to control operations of the image displayapparatus 100 based on the platforms as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12.

The platforms of FIGS. 11 and 12 may be general-purpose platforms thatcan be implemented in many other electronic devices as well as in theimage display apparatus as disclosed herein. The platforms may be storedor loaded in the memory 140, the controller 170, or any other processor.To execute applications, an additional application processor may befurther provided.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method for controlling the image display apparatususing a remote controller according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Referring to FIG. 13( a), a pointer 205 representingmovement of the remote controller 200 may be displayed on the display180. The remote controller 210 may be a motion sensing remote controllerthat senses a movement of the remote controller 210. The user may moveor rotate the remote controller 200 up and down, side to side (FIG. 13(b)), and back and forth (FIG. 13( c)). Since the pointer 205 moves inaccordance with the movement of the remote controller 200, the remotecontroller 200 may be referred to as a pointing device.

Referring to FIG. 13( b), if the user moves the remote controller 200 tothe left, the pointer 205 may move to the left on the display 180 inresponse thereto. A sensor provided on the remote controller 200 maydetect the movement of the remote controller 200 and transmitcorresponding motion information to the image display apparatus. Then,the image display apparatus may determine the movement of the remotecontroller 200 based on the motion information received from the remotecontroller 200. The controller may then calculate the coordinates of atarget location to which the pointer 205 should be shifted in accordancewith the movement of the remote controller 200. The image displayapparatus may then display the pointer 205 at the calculatedcoordinates.

Referring to FIG. 13( c), the remote controller 200 may be moved awayfrom the display 180 while a predetermined button on the remotecontroller 200 is depressed. Then, a selected area corresponding to thepointer 205 may be zoomed in to enlarge a image on the display 180. Onthe contrary, if the user moves the remote controller 200 toward thedisplay 180, the area corresponding to the pointer 205 may be zoomedout, and thus, reducing the size of the image on the display 180. Theopposite may also be possible. That is, when the remote controller 200moves away from the display 180, the selection area may be zoomed outand when the remote controller 200 approaches the display 180, theselection area may be zoomed in.

With the predetermined button pressed on the remote controller 200, anup, down, left or right movements of the remote controller 200 may beignored. That is, when the remote controller 200 moves away from orapproaches the display 180, only the back and forth movements (e.g., thedistance from the display 180) of the remote controller 200 are sensed,while the up, down, left and right movements of the remote controller200 are ignored. When the predetermined button is not selected at theremote controller 200, the pointer 205 may move in accordance with theup, down, left or right movement of the remote controller 200. Moreover,the speed and direction of the pointer 205 on the display 180 maycorrespond to the speed and direction of the remote controller 200. Thesensitivity of the pointer 205 relative to the movement of the remotecontroller 200 may be adjusted.

The pointer 205 is an object displayed on the display 180 incorrespondence with the movement of the remote controller 200.Therefore, the pointer 205 may have various shapes other than the arrowillustrated in FIG. 13. For example, the pointer 205 may be a dot, acursor, a prompt, a thick outline, etc. The pointer 205 may be displayedacross a plurality of points, such as a line and a surface as well as ata single point on a horizontal and vertical axes.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the remote controller in the image displayapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 14, the remote controller 200 may include a wirelesscommunication module 225, a user input device 235, a sensor 240, anoutput device 250, a power supply 260, a memory 270, a controller 280,or another appropriate component based on the application or desiredfunctionality of the display device.

The wireless communication module 225 may transmit signals to and/orreceives signals from the image display apparatus 100 as disclosedherein. The wireless communication module 225 may include an RF module221 for transmitting RF signals to and/or receiving RF signals from theimage display apparatus 100 according to an RF communication standard.The wireless communication module 225 may also include an IR module 223for transmitting IR signals to and/or receiving IR signals from theimage display apparatus 100 according to an IR communication standard.

In this embodiment, the remote controller 200 may transmit motioninformation that represents a movement of the remote controller 200 tothe image display apparatus 100 through the RF module 221. The remotecontroller 200 may also receive signals from the image display apparatus100 through the RF module 221. As needed, the remote controller 200 maytransmit commands such as a power on/off command, a channel switchcommand, or a volume change command to the image display apparatus 100through the IR module 223. In certain embodiments, the command signalsmay also be transmitted through the RF module 221.

The user input device 235 may include a keypad, a plurality of buttons,a touchpad and/or a touch screen. The user may enter commands to theimage display apparatus 100 by manipulating the user input circuit 235.If the user input circuit 235 includes a plurality of hard buttons, theuser may input various commands to the image display apparatus 100 byactivating the hard buttons. Moreover, if the user input circuit 235includes a touch screen displaying a plurality of soft keys, the usermay input various commands to the image display apparatus 100 bytouching the soft keys on the display 180. The user input device 235 mayalso include various input tools other than those set forth herein, suchas a scroll key, a jog wheel, or another appropriate user input device.

The sensor 240 may include a gyro sensor 241 and/or an accelerationsensor 243. The gyro sensor 241 may sense a movement of the remotecontroller 200, for example, along the X-, Y-, and Z-axis, and theacceleration sensor 243 may sense the acceleration and speed of theremote controller 200. The sensor 240 may further include a distancesensor (proximity sensor) to sense the distance between the remotecontroller 200 and the display 180.

The output device 250 may output a video and/or audio signalcorresponding to manipulation of the user input device 235 orcorresponding to a signal received from the image display apparatus 100.The user may easily identify whether the user input device 235 has beenmanipulated or whether the image display apparatus 100 has beencontrolled, based on the video and/or audio signal output by the outputdevice 250.

The output device 250 may include a Light Emitting Diode (LED) module351 which may be activated whenever the user input circuit 235 ismanipulated or whenever a signal is received from or transmitted to theimage display apparatus 100 through the wireless communication module225, a vibration module 253 which generates vibrations, an audio outputmodule 255 which outputs audio data, and/or a display module 257 whichoutputs video data.

The power supply 260 supplies power to the remote controller 200. If theremote controller 200 is kept stationary for a predetermined time orlonger, the power supply 260 may, for example, reduce or shut off supplyof power to the motion sensing remote controller 200 in order to savepower. The power supply 260 may again supply power if a predeterminedkey on the motion sensing remote controller 200 is manipulated.

The memory 270 may store various types of programs and application datanecessary to control or drive the remote controller 200. The motionsensing remote controller 200 may wirelessly transmit signals to and/orreceive signals from the image display apparatus 100 over apredetermined frequency band with the aid of the RF module 221. Thecontroller 280 of the remote controller 200 may store the frequency bandinformation associated with the paired image display apparatus 100 inthe memory 270 for subsequent use.

The controller 280 may provide overall control of the remote controller200. The controller 280 may transmit a signal corresponding to a keymanipulation detected from the user input device 235 or a signalcorresponding to a motion of the motion sensing remote controller 200,as sensed by the sensor 240, to the image display apparatus 100.

FIGS. 15 to 18 illustrate various types of UIs in an image displayapparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Referringto FIG. 15, an application list of applications available over a networkmay be displayed on the display 180. A user may access a CP or an NPdirectly, search for various applications, or download the applicationsfrom the CP or the NP.

Specifically, FIG. 15( a) illustrates the display 180 which displays anapplication list 610 of applications which may be available on a serverconnected to the display apparatus. The application list 610 may includean icon for each application as well as a brief description of theapplication. Because the image display apparatus as disclosed herein mayhave full browser functionality, the icons or the descriptions may beenlarged on the display 180 of the image display apparatus. Accordingly,the user may readily identify the desired applications, as described infurther detail hereinafter. FIG. 15( b) illustrates a selection of oneapplication 620 from the application list 610 using a pointer 205. Thepointer 205 may be controlled by a movement of the remote controller200. Thus, the selected application 620 may be easily selected,downloaded, or remotely executed over the network.

FIG. 16 illustrates an application list displayed on the display 180according to another embodiment. Referring to FIG. 16( a), when anapplication list view menu is selected by manipulating the remotecontroller 200, a list of applications 660 stored in the image displayapparatus may be displayed on the display 180. The icons may includeidentifying information related to the corresponding application tofacilitate identification of the application. Moreover, while only iconsrepresenting the applications are shown in FIG. 16, the application list660 may also include brief descriptions of the applications, as in theapplication list 610 of FIG. 15. Therefore, the user may accessadditional information to readily identify the applications if desired.FIG. 16( b) illustrates a selection of one application icon 670 from theapplication list 660 using the pointer 205. The pointer 205 may becontrolled by moving the remote controller 200. Accordingly, theselected application 670 may be easily selected and executed.

Moreover, in certain embodiments, the application lists 610 or 660 maydisplay icons representing both applications available over the networkas well as applications available locally. In this embodiment, the iconsor the descriptions may include additional indicia to differentiate theremote and local applications. For example, the description may includea network address for the corresponding application.

Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the icons may be thumbnails. Whileicons may include images which are related to the corresponding content(e.g., name or logo of a content server, an image representing acategory, etc.), thumbnails may include a representation of thecorresponding content (e.g., an image of the content). For example, ifthe thumbnail corresponds to a still image, a reduced sized version ofthe still image may be displayed on the thumbnail. Moreover, if thecorresponding content is a video image (e.g., a broadcast content), aversion of the video image may be played on the thumbnail.

While FIGS. 15 and 16 show that a desired application may be selected bymoving the pointer 205 using the remote controller 200, the applicationmay be selected in many other ways. For example, the user may select aspecific application by moving a cursor around the display 180 usingdedicated keys (e.g., arrow keys and an OK key) on the remote controller200. In another example, if the remote controller 200 equipped with atouch pad, the pointer 205 may be controlled using the touch pad.Accordingly, the user may select a specific item using the pointer 205and various types of input devices.

FIG. 17 illustrates a Web page displayed on the display 180.Specifically, FIG. 17( a) illustrates a Web page 710 with a searchwindow 720 displayed on the display 180. A keyword or search string maybe input to the search window 720 using a keypad displayed on thedisplay 180, local keys provided on the display apparatus, or characterkeys provided on the remote controller 200.

FIG. 17( b) illustrates a search result page 730 which may display asearch result matching the keyword entered in the search window 720.Since the image display apparatus may have browser functionalities, theuser may access a Web page from the search result on the image displayapparatus.

FIG. 18 illustrates another Web page displayed on the display 180.Specifically, FIG. 18( a) illustrates a mail service page 810, includingan ID input window 820 and a password input window 825, displayed on thedisplay 180. The user may enter an alphanumeric user ID and passwordinto the ID input window 820 and the password input window 825. The userID and password may be inputted using a keypad displayed on the mailservice page 810, character keys provided as local keys, or characterkeys provided on the remote controller 200. Hence, the user may login toan online mail service using the image display apparatus.

FIG. 18( b) illustrates a mail page 830 which may be displayed on thedisplay 180 after logging-in to the mail service. The mail page 830 maycontains items “read mail,” “write mail,” “sent box,” “received box,”“recycle bin,” or another appropriate mail related items. Moreover, inthe “received box” item, mail may be sorted according to sender or bytitle. The image display apparatus may be configured to have fullbrowser functionality when displaying the mail service page. Therefore,the user may conveniently access the mail service through the imagedisplay apparatus.

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary home screen displayed on the display 180. Theconfiguration of the home screen as shown in FIG. 19 may be a defaulthome screen configuration for a smart N. The home screen may be set asan initial screen that may be displayed when the image display apparatus100 is powered on or wakes up from a standby mode. Moreover, the homescreen may be a default screen which may be displayed when a local keyon the display apparatus 100 or a home key on the remote controller 200is selected.

Referring to FIG. 19, a card object area may be defined in a home screen1300. The card object area may include a plurality of card objects 1310,1320 and 1330 which may be classified based on the source or a type ofcontent. The image display apparatus may include a card object generatorwhich generates and displays the card object. In certain embodiments,the card object generator may be an OSD generator 340 or a functionalmodule included in the controller or another component of the displayapparatus 100.

The card object may be a window having a predetermined configuration(e.g., size, shape, color, style, etc.) for display on the displayapparatus 100. The configuration of the card objects may bepredetermined such that the positioning and arrangement of the cardobjects on the display may be uniform among the plurality of cardobjects. For example, each of the card objects be the same size anddisplayed in areas predefined on the home screen 1300 designated fordisplaying a card object. In this manner, the arrangement of the homescreen 1300 may be maintained while the displayed content on the homescreen 1300 may be updated or changed.

Referring again to FIG. 19, the card object 1310 may be named BROADCASTand may display a broadcast image. The card object 1320 may be namedNETCAST and may provide a list of CPs, e.g., a list of CPs availablethrough NetCast. The card object 1330, which may be named APP STORE, mayprovide a list of applications.

Other card objects may be arranged in a hidden area 1301. The cardobjects in the hidden area 1301 may be hidden from view on the display180. These hidden card objects may be shifted or scrolled onto thedisplay 180 to replace the displayed card objects. The hidden cardobjects, as shown in FIG. 19, may include a CHANNEL BROWSER card object1340 which may provide a thumbnail list of broadcast channels, a TVGUIDE card object 1350 which may provide a program list, aRESERVATION/REC card object 1360 which may provide a reserved orrecorded program list, a MY MEDIA card object 1370 which may provide alist of multimedia files which are available on the image displayapparatus 100 or on a device connected to the image display apparatus100, an EXTERNAL DEVICE card object 1380 which may provide a list ofexternal devices which may be connected to the image display apparatus100, and a PHONE card object 1390 which may provide a list ofcall-related items.

The BROADCAST card object 1310 may display a broadcast image 1315received through the tuner 110 or the network interface 130, aninformation object 1321 that displays information about the broadcastimage 1315, a device object 1317 representing an external device, and asetup object 1318. Moreover, the BROADCAST card object 1310 may be fixedin size by a lock function such that the broadcast image 1315 may beviewed while the other displayed card objects 1320, 1330 may bescrolled.

Moreover, the broadcast image 1315 may be scaled or resized. Forinstance, a size of the broadcast image 1315 may be enlarged or reducedby dragging the broadcast image 1315 with the pointer 205 of the remotecontroller 200. As the broadcast image 1315 is scaled up or down, thenumber of the displayed card objects may be changed accordingly. Forexample, the number of card objects displayed on the display 180 may bechanged from three to either four or two card objects. Furthermore, whenthe broadcast image 1315 in the card object 1310 is selected, thebroadcast image 1315 may be displayed as a full screen image on thedisplay 180.

The information object 1321 that displays information related to thebroadcast image 1315 may include a channel number (DTV7-1), a channelname (YBC HD), the title of a broadcast program (“Oh! Lady”), and anairtime (8:00-8:50 PM) for the broadcast program. Therefore, the usermay readily obtain information regarding the displayed broadcast image1315 through the information object 1321. Moreover, if the user selectsthe information object 1321, related EPG information may be displayed onthe display 180.

A current time object 1302 that includes a date (03.24), a day (THU),and a current time (8:13 PM) may be displayed above the card object1310. Thus, the user may readily identify current time informationthrough the current time object 1302. The device object 1317 mayrepresent an external device connected to the image display apparatus100. For example, if the object 1317 is selected, a list of externaldevices connected to the image display apparatus 100 may be displayed.The setup object 1318 may be used to set various settings of the imagedisplay apparatus 100, such as video settings, audio settings, screensettings, reservation settings, setting of the pointer 205 of the remotecontroller 200, network settings, or another appropriate setting for theimage display apparatus 100.

The card object 1320 may contain a card object name 1322 (NETCAST) and aCP list 1325 that displays a list of CPs. While Yakoo, Metflix,weather.com, Picason, and MyTube are listed as available CPs in the CPlist 1325, as shown in FIG. 19, it should be appreciated that many otherCPs may be listed in the CP list 1325. Upon selection of the card objectname 1322, the card object 1320 may be displayed as a full screen imageon the display 180. The same may apply to the other card objects 1330,1340, 1350, 1360, 1370, 1380, 1390. Moreover, if a specific CP isselected from the CP list 1325, a list of content available from theselected CP may be displayed on the display 180.

The card object 1330 may include a card object name 1332 (APP STORE) andan application list 1335. The application list 1335 may display aplurality of icons representing applications available on a server, forexample, for download or purchase from the display apparatus 100.Application icons may be sorted into predetermined categories in theapplication list 1335. As shown in FIG. 19, applications may be sortedby popularity (HOT), by time (NEW), and/or another appropriate categorygroup. Upon selection of an application icon from the application list1335, information related to the selected application may be displayedon the display 180.

A Login menu item 1327, a Help menu item 1328, and an Exit menu item1329 may be displayed above the card objects 1320 and 1330. The user maylogin to the APP STORE or a network connected to the image displayapparatus 100 using the Login menu item 1327. The Help menu item 1328may provide guidance regarding operation of the image display apparatus100. The Exit menu item 1329 may be used to exit the home screen 1300.When the Exit menu item 1329 is selected, a full screen image of thereceived broadcast image may be displayed on the display 180.

An indicator object 1337 may be displayed under the card objects 1320and 1330 to indicate the total number of available card objects. Theindicator object 1337 may also indicate the number of card objects whichare displayed on the display 180. For example, the total number of dotsmay represent the total number of available card objects. The displayedcard objects may be represented by corresponding highlighted dots whichmay be differentiated by a different color (e.g., white). Moreover, theposition of the highlighted dots among the plurality of dots maycorrespond to a position of the displayed card objects among theplurality of available card objects. As shown in FIG. 19, the first twowhite dots of the eight total dots may represent the first two cardobjects (NETCAST and APP STORE card objects) among the eight availablecard objects, in their relative positions.

The card object 1340 may represent a list of broadcast channels. Thiscard object 1340 may include a card object name 1342 (CHANNEL BROWSER)and a thumbnail list of broadcast channels 1345. A plurality ofbroadcast channels may be represented as thumbnail images, as shown inFIG. 19. The thumbnail images may include still images or movingpictures. The thumbnail list 1345 may include information related to thechannels as well as the thumbnail images for the channels such that thebroadcast programs of the channels may be readily identified.

Moreover, the thumbnail images may correspond to pre-stored userchannels (e.g., favorite list) or to channel numbers relative to thechannel being displayed in the card object 1310 (e.g., channels whichare numbered higher or lower than the displayed channel). Although eightchannel thumbnail images are displayed in FIG. 9, many otherconfigurations may be possible. The arrangement and selection of thedisplayed thumbnail images may be updated in the thumbnail list 1345.Upon selection of a thumbnail image from the thumbnail list 1345, abroadcast program from the selected channel may be displayed on thedisplay 180.

The card object 1350 which represents a program list may contain a cardobject name 1352 (TV GUIDE) and a program list 1355. The program list1355 may list broadcast programs for the currently displayed channel orbroadcast programs for one or more different channels. If a program isselected from the program list 1355, a broadcast image of the selectedprogram (e.g., currently being broadcast) or broadcasting informationrelated to the selected program (e.g., future broadcasts) may bedisplayed on the display 180.

The card object 1360 which represents a reserved (e.g., a scheduledrecording) or recorded program list may include a card object name 1362(RESERVATION/REC) and a scheduled or recorded program list 1365. Thescheduled or recorded program list 1365 may include scheduled recordingsor scheduled programs which have been recorded. Moreover, while athumbnail image is displayed for each program as shown in FIG. 19, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto and the program listing may bedisplayed in various formats. For example, the scheduled/recordedprogram list 1365 may include a text listing, a grid, thumbnail imagesonly, or another appropriate format to list the scheduledrecordings/recorded programs. Upon selection of a scheduled recording ora recorded program from the scheduled or recorded program list 1365,broadcast information related to the scheduled recording or the recordedbroadcast program may be displayed on the display 180. Alternatively, ifrecorded, the recorded program may be displayed on the display 180.

The card object 1370 display a list of multimedia files and may includea card object name 1372 (MY MEDIA) and a media list 1375. The media list1375 may list multimedia files available on the image display apparatus100 or a device connected to the image display apparatus 100. While themultimedia files are shown as moving pictures, still images, and audioin FIG. 19, many other types of media (e.g., text, e-books, etc.) may belisted in the card object 1370. Upon selection of a file from the medialist 1375, the selected file may be opened and a window (e.g.,audio/video player or picture viewer window) that corresponds to theselected file may be displayed on the display 180.

The card object 1380 may display a list of connected external devicesand may contain a card object name 1382 (EXTERNAL DEVICE) and a devicelist 1385 of external devices connected to the image display apparatus100. The external device list 1385 may include a gaming box, a DVDplayer, a computer, or another appropriate device. Upon selection of thecard object name 1382, the card object 1380 may be displayed as a fullscreen image on the display 180. Moreover, upon selection of a specificexternal device from the external device list 1385, a menu related tothe selected external device may be displayed. For example, content maybe played back from the external device and a window (e.g., devicecontrol menu window) that corresponds to the reproduced content may bedisplayed on the display 180.

The card object 1390 may display call-related information and mayinclude a card object name 1392 (PHONE) and a call-related list 1395.The call-related list 1395 may be a listing related to calls placed orreceived from a portable phone, a computer, or the image displayapparatus 100 capable of placing calls. For instance, the call-relatedlist 1395 may include a message item, a phone book item, or a settingitem. Upon receipt of an incoming call at the portable phone, thecomputer, or the image display apparatus 100, the call-related cardobject 1390 may be automatically displayed in the card object area ofthe display 180. If the card object 1390 is already displayed on thedisplay 180, it may be highlighted or otherwise distinguished from theother card objects.

Therefore, the user may readily identify incoming calls received on anearby portable phone, a computer, or the image display apparatus 100.This is an interactive function among the portable phone, the computer,and the image display apparatus, and may be referred to as a 3-screenfunction. Moreover, upon selection of the card object name 1392, thecard object 1390 may be displayed as a full screen image on the display180. Upon selection of a specific item from the call-related list 1395,a window that corresponds to the selected item may be displayed on thedisplay 180.

The controller or the card object generator may store and manage (e.g.,sort and arrange a display order of the card objects), and display thecard objects. The controller or the card object generator may set avirtual hidden area on one side of the screen so as to manage a sort anddisplay order of the card objects. The controller or the card objectgenerator may also control scrolling of the card objects, for example,to shift a displayed card objects to be hidden and to shift a hiddencard object to be displayed on the display apparatus 100.

As shown in FIG. 19, the card objects 1310, 1320 and 1330 may bedisplayed in the card object area 1300, and the card objects 1340 to1390 may be hidden in the hidden area 1301, by way of example. The cardobjects 1320 and 1330 displayed on the display 180 may be exchanged withthe hidden card objects 1340 to 1390 according to a card object shiftinput. For example, at least one of the card objects 1320 and 1330 beingdisplayed on the display 180 may be moved to the hidden area 1301 and inturn, at least one of the hidden objects 1340 to 1390 may be displayedon the display 180.

An application menu 1305 may include a plurality of application menuitems. The plurality of application menu items may include predeterminedmenu items 1306 to 1309 which may be selected from all application menuitems available on the display 180. Thus, the application menu 1305 maybe referred to as an application compact-view menu. The application menuitems 1306 to 1309 may be divided into mandatory application menu items1306, 1307, and 1309 (Search, App Store, and ‘+’) and optionalapplication menu items 1308 (e.g., Music, Book, MAZON, and SNS).

The mandatory application menu items 1306, 1307 and 1309 may be fixedsuch that the user is not allowed to edit these items. The Searchapplication menu item 1306 may provide a search function based on aninput search keyword. The App Store application menu item 1307 mayallows direct to access an AppStore. The ‘+’ (View More) applicationmenu item 1309 may provide a full screen function wherein theapplication menu 1305 may be displayed as a full screen image.

In certain embodiments, an Internet application menu item and a mailapplication menu item may be added as mandatory application menu itemsin the application menu 1305. The user-set application menu items 1308may be changed to display applications menu items for applications whichare frequently accessed. It should be appreciated that, while theapplication menu 1305 is disclosed herein as having a predeterminedspecific set of mandatory application menu items and user-setapplication menu items, the present disclosure is not limited thereto,and any number or types of application menu items may be designated asbeing mandatory or optional.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a method for operating an image displayapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, andFIGS. 21, 22 and 23 are exemplary home screens to illustrate the methodof FIG. 20. Referring to FIG. 20, the method for operating an imagedisplay apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,may include displaying the home screen 1300, in step S1410. The homescreen 1300 may include a plurality of card objects, for example, aBROADCAST card object 1310, a NETCAST card object 1320, the APP STOREcard object 1330, and the application menu 1305 that includes at leastone application menu item displayed on the display 180, as illustratedin FIG. 21.

The home screen 1300 may be displayed, in step S1410, when the imagedisplay apparatus is powered on, wakes up from standby mode, or receivesa go-to-home input. Since the home screen 1300 was previously describedwith reference to FIG. 19, a detailed description of the home screen1300 is not repeated hereinbelow.

As described with reference to FIG. 19, the plurality of card objectsmay include at least one of a card object that provides a thumbnail listof broadcast channels, a card object that provides a scheduled programlist or a recorded program list, or a card object that provides a listof multimedia files available on the image display apparatus or in adevice connected to the image display apparatus. Among the card objects,a card object that displays a broadcast image may include a receivedbroadcast image and an object representing information related to thebroadcast image.

The plurality of card objects may include the CHANNEL BROWSER cardobject 1340. This card object may be partially displayed on the display180. Herein, a partially displayed card object such as the CHANNELBROWSER card object 1340 is referred to as a first card object. That is,referring to FIG. 21, the card objects 1320 and 1330 are fullydisplayed, while the card object 1340 is partially displayed on thedisplay 180.

Upon selection of the first card object 1340, in step S1420, the firstcard object 1340 may be fully displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 22. Forexample, at least one of the card objects displayed on the display 180(1320, 1330) may be moved to the hidden area 1301 and at least one ofcard objects hidden in the hidden area 1301 (1340, 1350) may in turn bedisplayed on the display 180, in step S1430.

A card object may be selected through manipulation of input device suchas the pointer 205 which may be controlled by a movement of the remotecontroller 200, a local key of the image display apparatus, adirectional key on the remote controller, etc. Moreover, the number ofcard objects displayed on the home screen 1300 may be variable.

Specifically, upon selection of the first card object 1340, thepartially displayed first card object 1340 (CHANNEL BROWSER)representing a thumbnail list of broadcast channels and the TV GUIDEcard object 1350 that displays a program list may be moved out of thehidden area 1301 to replace the NETCAST card object 1320 and the APPSTORE card object 1330 in the card object area. Thus, the CHANNELBROWSER card object 1340 may be fully displayed.

As the CHANNEL BROWSER card object 1340 and the TV Guide card object1350 are displayed on the home screen 1300, the RESERVATION/REC cardobject 1360 may now be partially displayed as a first card object, asshown in FIG. 22. Among the displayed card objects, the first cardobject 1360 of FIG. 22 may be placed at the rightmost position. In otherwords, the first card object 1360 may now be the leftmost card object inthe hidden area 1301.

In certain embodiments, a selection of the partially displayed firstcard object may result in replacing only one displayed card object witha new card object, rather than replacing all displayed card objects withnew hidden card objects. For example, referring to FIG. 21, a selectionof the partially displayed CHANNEL BROWSER card object 1340 may resultin sliding this card object to an area on the display occupied by theAPP STORE card object 1330, and sliding the NETCAST card object 1320 offthe screen to the hidden area.

Moreover, the NETCAST card object 1320, which was replaced by theCHANNEL BROWSER card object 1340, may be partially displayed at the leftside of the APP STORE card object 1330 to indicate presence of availablecard objects. In this case, the partially displayed card object on theleft side may be displayed between the BROADCAST card object and theleftmost card object. In other words, hidden card objects may bepartially displayed on the left side as well as the right side of thedisplayed card objects to indicate presence of additional card objectson each respective side.

The partially displayed card objects may be further distinguished fromthe active card objects by distinguishing a color, tint, brightness,shading, fading, or another appropriate characteristic to furtherdistinguish the partially displayed card objects. For example, the imageof the partially displayed card objects may be faded such that thepartially displayed card objects are less noticeable. Other graphiceffects may be provided, such as gradually fading the partiallydisplayed card object towards the edge of the display, to furtherdistinguish these card objects while minimizing their potentialdistraction to a user.

FIGS. 21 and 22 illustrate examples of a home screen 1300 which mayinclude a partially displayed object at the right side of the displaythat indicates presence of an additional card object on the right sideof the display. When additional information is present in the verticaldirection, a similar environment may be provided to display theadditional card objects.

Moreover, similar methods may be used to identify hidden objects (e.g.,icons) within a card object. For example, the CHANNEL BROWSER cardobject 1340 as shown in FIG. 23 may include additional hidden objects1341 and 1342 which may be partially displayed on the bottom of the cardobject 1340. Accordingly, the user may readily recognize the presence ofadditional hidden thumbnail images 1341, 1342 and view them by scrollingup the CHANNEL BROWSER card object 1340 using the remote controller 200.Alternatively, the partially displayed object 1341 or 1342 may beselected to fully display the partially displayed object 1341 or 1342 aswell as other hidden thumbnails without manually scrolling to view thehidden thumbnails.

For example, when the partially displayed object 1341 or 1342 isselected (e.g., using the remote controller 200), all displayedthumbnails may be replaced with new thumbnails (e.g., hiddenthumbnails). Here, a selection of the partially displayed objects 1341or 1342 may be similar to a selection of a page up/down button. Incertain embodiments, the selection of the partially displayed object1341 or 1342 may cause the thumbnails to shift by one row. Here, thepartially displayed objects 1341 or 1342 may be used similar to a scrollbutton. Moreover, when changing the displayed thumbnails, the displayedthumbnails may be scrolled to slide across the display or may be changedinstantly without the graphic effects.

Indicator objects 1337 in this embodiment may also indicate which of theplurality of card objects are currently being displayed on the homescreen 1300. For example, in FIG. 23, six card objects 1320-1370 may beavailable (excluding the BROADCAST card object 1310). The six cardobjects may be represented by six corresponding dots of the indicatorobject 1337 positioned below the two displayed card objects 1340, 1350.The six dots of the indicator object 1337 may be displayed according toa relative order of the available card objects such that a relativeposition of the displayed card objects may be determined based on thedots.

For example, the first dot may corresponds to the first card object(NETCAST 1320) and may be displayed at a far left position among the sixdots. The third dot may correspond to the third card object (CHANNELBROWSER 1340) and may be displayed at the third position from the leftamong the six dots, etc. Because the dots which correspond to thedisplayed card objects (CHANNEL BROWSER card object 1340 and the TVGUIDE card object 1350) may be highlighted (white dots), a relativeposition of the displayed card objects among the all available cardobjects may be determined through the indicator objects 1337 (e.g.,CHANNEL BROWSER card object 1340 is the third card object).

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a method for operating an image displayapparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, andFIGS. 25 to 32 are exemplary screen images to illustrate the method ofFIG. 24. Particularly, FIGS. 25 to 32 illustrate exemplary applicationmarket screens, for example, app store screens.

Referring to FIG. 24, the method for operating an image displayapparatus according to this embodiment may include receiving a go-to-appstore input, in step S1610, in response to the go-to-app store input,displaying tabbed menus which may represent categories in which aplurality of applications may be classified in a first area of thedisplay 180, in step S1620, and upon a selection of a tabbed menucorresponding to a category, in step S1630, sorting icons that representapplications in the selected category according to sub-categories anddisplaying the sorted icons based on the sub-categories, in step S1640.

Referring to FIG. 25, tabbed menus which may represent categories intowhich a plurality of applications are classified may be displayed in afirst area 1800 of the display 180. The large number of availableapplication may make identification of newly added applicationsdifficult. Accordingly, the applications may be classified into variouscategories (e.g., game, news, sport, etc.) based on the type ofapplication, as illustrated in FIG. 25, a user may search for a desiredapplication more easily.

In step S1620 as shown in FIG. 24, the method for operating an imagedisplay apparatus may further include displaying a broadcast image 1711in a second area 1710 of the display 180. Thus, the broadcast image 1711may be continually displayed while accessing the app store. Uponselection of a tabbed menu corresponding to a category, applicationicons that fall into the selected category may be sorted according tosub-categories and displayed in at least a part of the display 180,preferably in the first area 1800. That is, because the applications ofthe selected category are re-classified and displayed according topredetermined criteria, the user can identify the applications moreeasily.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example in which a category 1811 ‘ALL’ with allapplications is selected. The selected category 1811 may be displayeddifferently from other categories 1812 and 1813 in color, size, etc. Oneof the tabbed menus may be selected based on pre-stored settings or by auser input. For example, the category 1811 ‘All’ may be set by default.In this case, when an app store (application market) is accessed, theapplication icons included in the category ‘All’ may be automaticallysorted and displayed according to predetermined criteria, as illustratedin FIG. 25. Accordingly, when the tabbed menus are displayed, thecategory ‘All’ may be selected by default according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The sub-categories may be based, for example, on a total popularityranking 1820 (Weekly Hot), new application 1830 (New), free applicationranking 1840 (Top FREE), or paid application ranking, for apredetermined time period. The predetermined time period may be, forexample, a day, a week, a month, a quarter, a half year, a year, or acustom time period, and may be set to be different for eachsub-category. For instance, a top ranking list which may list thedownload or installation rankings of applications may be ranked anddisplayed on a weekly basis, whereas the numbers of downloads orinstallations of free or paid applications may be accumulated for anindefinite period and tabulated as a top free application list or a toppaid application list. A new application list including new applicationsreleased within a predetermined time may also be made based on adifferent statistical period from those of other sub-categories.

The application lists of the sub-categories may contain fully displayedicons and partially displayed icons. Referring to FIG. 25, the WeeklyHot list 1820 may contain full icons 1821 and 1822 and a partial icon1823. The New list 1830 may also contain full icons 1831 and 1832 and apartial icon 1833. The Top FREE list 1840 may contain full icons 1841and 1842 and a partial icon 1843.

Simply for ease of discussion, the partially displayed icons may bereferred to as first icons. The user may readily recognize the presenceof additional icons hidden from the display 180 based on these firsticons. Upon selection of a first icon, in step S1650, the display stateof the first area may be changed, in step S1660. In step S1660, thefirst icon may be fully displayed. In an embodiment, hidden icons may bedisplayed along with the selected first icon in the application listcontaining the first icon.

Upon selection of the first icon 1823 which is partially displayed inthe Weekly Hot list 1820 in FIG. 25, the Weekly Hot list 1820 may bechanged to display an icon 1851 which may be a fully displayed versionof the first icon 1823, followed by icons 1852, 1853 and 1854 which werehidden, as shown in FIG. 26. In this manner, the first icon 1823 mayfunction to shift the application list forward or backward so that theapplication list displays previous or next icons which were notpreviously displayed.

The first icon 1851 (full version of partially displayed first icon1823) may be placed at the leftmost position of the application list.Moreover, if there are remaining hidden icons, not yet displayed in theWeekly Hot list 1820, an icon 1856 may be partially displayed at therightmost position, as shown in FIG. 26, in order to indicate to theuser of the existence of additional information.

Upon selection of the first icon 1823 in FIG. 25, the fully displayedicon 1822 to the left of the first icon 1823 may be partially displayedas illustrated in FIG. 26 (shown in FIG. 26 as icon 1855). In this case,the user may readily recognize that there is a previous icon which maybe available in the Weekly Hot list 1820. When the user clicks on thefirst icon 1822, the Weekly Hot list 1820 may be shifted to display theprevious icons.

In certain embodiments, when first icon 1823 as shown in FIG. 25 isselected, the displayed icons in the Weekly Hotlist 1820 may be shifted(e.g., scrolled) by one icon to display the first icon 1823 at alocation where icon 1822 was originally displayed. In this case, onlythe left most icon may be scrolled off the screen to be hidden orpartially displayed, while the other three previously displayed iconsmay still be displayed.

Meanwhile, a specific image, for example, an advertisement 1775 may bedisplayed in a third area 1770 of the display 180. The advertisement1775 may be received from a network or a connected external device. If asignal related to an advertisement is not received, any other image maybe displayed. For instance, an advertisement for a manufacturer of theimage display apparatus, which may be stored in the image displayapparatus, may be displayed in the third area 1770.

In addition, when the user selects or focuses on a specific application,an image that corresponds to the application may be displayed in thethird area 1770. If the user selects an icon, an image displayed on thethird area 1770 may be replaced with information about the applicationcorresponding to the selected icon. Moreover, when another icon isselected, or if a hidden first icon is selected, the displayed images inthe corresponding list (Weekly Hot list 1820, New list 1830, or Top Freelist 1840) as well as the third area 1770 may be updated accordingly.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, upon selection ofthe first icon, the current screen may turn to a previous page or a nextpage in step S1660. FIGS. 27 and 28 are exemplary screen images toillustrate a change in a display screen upon a selection of a partiallydisplayed icon (i.e. a first icon) according to this embodiment. Here,when one of a partially displayed first icon 1861, 1862, or 1863 isselected when under the category “All,” a current page 1860 may beswitched to a next page 1870.

Referring to FIG. 28, each of application lists on the page 1870 mayinclude a plurality of icons. Among them, icons 1871, 1872 and 1873 maybe fully displayed, whereas first icons 1874 to 1879 may be partiallydisplayed. The first icons 1874 to 1879 may be placed at the leftmost orrightmost positions in their respective application lists.

The user may recognize the presence of the previous page when the firsticons 1874, 1875 and 1876 are displayed at the leftmost positions intheir respective application lists. Upon selection of the first icon1874, 1875 or 1876, the current screen may turn to the previous page1860 of FIG. 27. Likewise, a presence the first icons 1877, 1878 and1879 at the rightmost positions in their respective application listsmay indicate a presence of a next page. Upon selection of one of thefirst icons 1877, 1878 or 1879, the current screen 1870 may turn to anext page that includes the a full version of the first icons 1877,1878, 1879 as well as additional hidden icons if available.

FIGS. 29 and 30 illustrate displayed screen image switching according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. Here, a displayed image screenmay be switched based on flicking when two pages are available. In FIGS.29 and 30, two large rectangles 1910, 1920 may represent pages, whereinthe bolded rectangle may represent a current page.

Referring to FIG. 29, a first page 1910 may be displayed on a displayscreen. Unlike a conventional page, the first page 1910 may contain aportion of the next page 1920 to notify the user of the presence of thenext page 1920. Here, the first page 1910 may easily be turned to thenext page 1920 through flicking. Referring to FIG. 30, the second page1920 may be displayed. Like the first page 1920, the second page 1920may contain a portion of the first page 1920. The second page 1920 maybe easily flicked to the previous page 1910.

A flicking or a flick input may be, for example, a touch input similarto a touch-and-drag input. However, in this type of input, the movementto drag is a quick movement across the screen. Unlike the touch-and-draginput where the drag may span across the screen, the flicking motion mayrequire a quicker motion that spans a smaller distance. The flick inputmay be generated through a touch screen input, a remote controller 200,or another appropriate input device.

FIGS. 31 and 32 are exemplary display screen images of an applicationlist that includes partially displayed icons (i.e. first icons) 1881 and1882 positioned vertically, under fully displayed icons. That is, whilethe first icons, as illustrated in FIGS. 25 to 30, were positionedhorizontally at the leftmost or rightmost portions of the display, firsticons 1881 and 1882 in this embodiment may be partially displayed at thebottom to indicate that there is still another page. Upon selection ofthe icon 1881 or 1882, the next page may be displayed.

That is, if there are additional hidden application lists or iconsavailable vertically at either the top or bottom of the display, anpartial first icon 1881, 1882 may be partially displayed on the top orbottom edge of the display area to indicate the presence of theadditional information. Upon selection of the partially displayed icon1881 or 1882, as shown in FIG. 31, the selected icon 1881 or 1882 may befully displayed as an icon 1891 or 1892, as illustrated in FIG. 32.Along with the full icons 1891 and 1892, other hidden application listssuch as a Top PAID list, a Recommended list, etc. may be displayed toreplace the Weekly Hot list, the New list, and the Top FREE list of FIG.31. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 32, additional partially displayed iconsmay be displayed on the top and bottom of the application list area toindicate the presence of additional information, if available (e.g.,Time Attack).

As previously discussed, a broadcast image may be displayed on a portionof the display 180. FIG. 33 is a flowchart of a method for operating animage display apparatus according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure, and FIGS. 34, 35 and 36 are exemplary display screen imagesto illustrate the method of FIG. 33.

Referring to FIG. 33, an input to display the application menu on a fullscreen may be received, in step S2010. The input to switch to a fullscreen view of the applications may be generated in various manners. Forexample, a full screen function may be invoked by selecting the viewmore (+) application menu item 1309 in the application menu 1305 of FIG.19 using the pointer 205. The pointer 205 may be controlled by amovement of the remote controller 200. Moreover, the view more (+)application menu item 1309 may be selected through a selection of adirectional key or both a directional key and an “OK” key on the remotecontroller 200.

A full screen 2100 which includes a plurality of application items maybe displayed on the display 180, as illustrated in FIG. 34, in stepS2020. The full screen 2100 may include an application menu 2150. To bespecific, the full screen 2100 may include an application compact-viewmenu 2110 and an extended application menu 2150 with additionalapplication items. Each application menu may include a plurality ofapplication items.

The full screen may include an application menu which may include atleast one object that represents movement to the home screen, an objectthat represents deletion of an application item, or an object thatindicates a current page number with respect to the total number ofpages.

The application compact-view menu 2110 is similar to the applicationmenu 1305 illustrated in FIG. 19, except that a compact-view applicationitem (−) 2109 replaces the view more application item (+) 1309 as amandatory application item. That is, upon selection of the compact-viewapplication item (−) 2109, the home screen as illustrated in FIG. 19 maybe displayed. In other words, when the display apparatus enters thecompact-view mode of the application menu, the application menu 1305 ofthe home screen may be displayed.

The extended application menu 2150 may include, among application itemsinstalled in the image display apparatus, application items that are notdisplayed in FIG. 19. The extended application menu 2150 may furtherinclude an object 2120 which may represent deletion of an applicationitem and an object 2130 that represents the current page number withrespect to the total number of pages for the full screen 2100.

Meanwhile, the extended application menu 2150 may include a plurality offully displayed application items 2173 and 2174 as well as a pluralityof partially displayed application items 2171 and 2172. The partiallydisplayed application items 2171 and 2172 may indicate the existence ofa next page. Upon selection of the partially displayed application item2171 or 2172, the full screen 2100 may turn to the next page to displayadditional application items. Upon selection of a partially displayedapplication item, in step S2030, the displayed extended menu screen maybe switched to display a previous or next screen, in step S2040.

FIGS. 34 and 35 show display exemplary display images to illustrate themethod of FIG. 33. Referring to FIGS. 34 and 35, upon a selection of thepartially application item 2171 or 2172 of FIG. 34, the full screen 2100may turn to the next page which may include a new extended applicationmenu 2180, as shown in FIG. 35. Preferably, the application compact-viewmenu 2110 may still displayed. Accordingly, the user may readilyidentify added application items.

As the user turns to the next page, the partially displayed applicationitems 2171 and 2172 of FIG. 34 may now be fully displayed as applicationitems 2181 and 2182, respectively, as shown in FIG. 35. The applicationitems 2173 and 2174 which were fully displayed in FIG. 34, may now bepartially displayed at the left side in FIG. 35. Accordingly, theexistence of a previous page may be indicated. Upon selection of theapplication item 2183 or 2184, as shown in FIG. 35, the previous pagemay be displayed. The partially displayed application items may beplaced at the leftmost or rightmost positions among the plurality ofdisplayed application items. Alternatively or additionally, thepartially displayed application items may be placed at the top or bottomside among the plurality of displayed application items.

FIG. 36 illustrates exemplary display images that display partiallydisplayed application items. The application items 2191 and 2192 may bepartially displayed at the bottom of the extended application menu 2150to indicate that the current page does not contain all of availableapplication items. In this embodiment, the application items 2191 and2192 may function to allow the displayed page to be switched from onepage to another. For example, upon selection of the application item2191 or 2192, the extended application menu 2150 may be changed to anext page and a new extended application menu may be displayed. Whenchanging the displayed page, the page may be scrolled to provide aneffect of sliding the displayed application items across (or up) thescreen. Alternatively, the display of the extended application menu 2150may be instantly changed.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart of a method for operating an image displayapparatus according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure.FIGS. 38 to 41 are images of the display screen to illustrate the methodof FIG. 37. Referring to FIG. 37, upon receipt of a search input fromthe user, the controller 170 may control to the display apparatus todisplay a search window on at least a part of the display 180, in stepS2210. The search window may be displayed separately from a displayedimage or overlaid on the displayed image.

Subsequently, a search may be performed based on a keyword entered inthe search window, in step S2220. The search keyword may be enteredusing an external input device connected to the image display apparatus100 via the external device interface 135. Moreover, the search keywordmay be entered through a local key positioned on the display apparatus100, or through a character key provided on the remote controller 200.

If a visual keyboard is displayed on the display 180, each character ofthe keyword may be entered by using a local key or through manipulationof the remote controller 200. If a touch screen display is provided, thekeyword may be entered by touching the keys at the display. Moreover, akeyword may also be entered through voice recognition. In this case, thecontroller 170 may include a voice recognition algorithm. A voice signalmay be received through a microphone connected to the image displayapparatus 100. Alternatively, a microphone may be provided on the remotecontroller 200 to provide the voice commands to the controller 170.Then, the controller 170 may generate appropriate control signals bytranslating the received voice commands through the voice recognitionalgorithm in real time.

Then, a search result image that includes a plurality of objects 2310and 2320 (as shown in FIG. 38) which correspond to the search result maybe displayed, in step S2230. Specifically, the controller 170 mayperform a search based on the keyword and may display the search resultson the display 180. When the Keyword List button 2391 is selected, thedisplayed search result may include content which includes the enteredsearch keyword. Moreover, when the Similar List button 2392 is selected,the displayed search result may include content which is similar tocontents which includes the entered search keyword. For example, if“Shutter Island” is entered as a search keyword, as shown in FIG. 38,and the Similar List button 2392 is selected, similar content from thesame genre (e.g., thriller) may be displayed as the search result.

Moreover, the search may be performed in the image display apparatus100, an external device connected to the image display apparatus 100, oron a remote device connected through an external network through thenetwork interface 135. While the controller 170 may perform the searchwhen the contents are located locally (e.g., on an external deviceconnected locally at the display apparatus 100), when the contents arelocated on a remote device, a search engine on an external network maybe used instead of the controller 170. Upon selection of the partiallydisplayed object 2320, in step S2240, the search results page may bechanged to display the next page of search results, e.g., hiddenobjects, in step S2250.

As the next search result page is displayed, the partially displayedobject 2320 of FIG. 38 may be fully displayed as an object 2340, asshown in FIG. 39. Then, the search result object 2310 may be scrolled tothe left to be partially displayed as an object 2330, as shown in FIG.39. Accordingly, the partially displayed object 2330 may indicate thepresence of the previous search result page. Moreover, upon selection ofthe partially displayed object 2330, the previous page may be displayed.A partially displayed object may be placed at the leftmost or rightmostposition among a plurality of objects, or both sides, based on thepresence of additional objects.

FIG. 40 illustrates a display screen image of a search result which maybe included in multiple categories. Referring to FIG. 40, the displayedobjects 2360, 2370 may fall into both categories “Similar List” (e.g.,objects which represent similar content) and “Netcast” (e.g., objectswhich are available on service providers through Netcast). The objects2360 and 2370 included in the search result may each include a wordwhich is related to the search keyword. Moreover, if remote content isbeing searched, the search result may be provided for display at thedisplay apparatus 100 by a service provider.

Referring again to FIG. 40, the displayed search list includes contentfrom the same genre, e.g., thriller. To display search resultsassociated with a different genre, the up/down screen shift icons 2380may be selected using a pointer 2350. The pointer 2350 may be controlledby a directional key of the remote controller, or another appropriateinput device. Moreover, to display content which includes the searchkeyword, the keyword list button 2392 may be selected.

A search result object 2320 may be partially displayed at the rightmostposition to indicate the presence of additional search results of thesame genre. Upon selection of the partially displayed search resultobject, the search results screen may be changed to display the nextpage of search result objects.

In certain embodiments, a partially displayed object may be positionedvertically, e.g., near the top or bottom side, among a plurality ofobjects. FIG. 41 illustrates a display screen image of a search resulthaving partially displayed objects positioned near the top or bottom. Inthis embodiment, the partially displayed object 2390 may indicatepresence of additional objects which may be hidden. Moreover, the hiddenobjects may be displayed without using the screen shift icons 2380 ofFIG. 40. Here, a search result object 2390 may be partially displayed atthe bottom and may be used to change the displayed page to another page.For example, upon selection of the search result object 2390, the searchresults page may be changed to display a new search result page. Thedisplayed page may be configured to be scrolled (e.g. slide off thedisplay) or may be changed instantly upon selection of the partiallydisplayed object 2390.

FIGS. 42, 43 and 44 are exemplary display screen images to control adisplay of graphical objects according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Hereinafter, the term “graphical object” may include objectsas described with reference to FIGS. 42, 43 and 44 as well as objects,items, and icons as described with reference to FIGS. 19 to 41.

When a card object 1320 is selected that represents CPs on the homescreen of FIG. 19 (e.g., the Netcast card object), additional CP objectsmay be displayed on the display 180, as illustrated in FIG. 42. The CPobjects may be icons that include identifying information (e.g., logos,names, video clips, etc.). Thus, the plurality of displayed CPs mayeasily be identified. While a CP list is shown in FIG. 42 as listing 10CPs objects (Yakoo, Metflix, Weather.com, Picason, My Tube, Gudu, Nulu,Witter, pacebook, and SBC), the number of CP objects listed on a singlescreen may be changed. For example, the size of the CP objects may bemade smaller to display a greater number of CP objects on a singledisplay.

Partially displayed objects 2413, 2414 may be provided to indicateavailability of additional CP objects. Upon selection of a partiallydisplayed object 2413 or 2414, the selected object may be fullydisplayed as an object 2417 or 2418, as shown in FIG. 43. Along with theobject 2417 or 2418, other previously hidden CP objects may be displayedon the display 180.

CP objects 2411 and 2412 which are fully displayed in FIG. 42 may bepartially displayed as CP objects 2415 and 2416 at the leftmostpositions in FIG. 43. Hence, the presence of additional CP objects whichare not displayed may be indicated by the display of CP objects 2415 and2416. Upon selection of the CP object 2415 or 2416, the previous pagemay be displayed. Moreover, a partially displayed object may be placedat the top or bottom of the object display area to indicate presence ofadditional objects at the top or bottom of the CP list, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 44, in addition to the partially displayed CP objects2413, 2414 positioned horizontally, a partially displayed CP object 2419may be positioned adjacent to the bottom row of the displayed CPobjects. This CP object 2419 may indicate to a user that additional CPobjects are available near the bottom of the displayed list. Uponselection of the CP object 2419, the displayed CP list may be scrolledup or changed to display another page of CP objects.

For example, the displayed CP list may be scrolled, for example, using aremote controller 200. Once the partially displayed CP object 2419 isselected, the displayed CP objects may be replaced with CP object 2419and additional new CP objects. Because all the CP objects are replaced(e.g., the entire page of CP objects is scrolled to display the nextpage), it may not be necessary for the user repeatedly scroll down thelist. However, it should be appreciated that a selection of thepartially displayed object 2419 may scroll the displayed image by onerow of CP objects (e.g., object 2419 may be fully displayed as well asthe row including object 2412, while the row including object 2411 maynow be hidden).

The image display apparatus and the method of controlling the same, asembodied and broadly described herein, may increase user convenience andoverall effectiveness of the user interface (UI) by providing a moreintuitive graphical interface. The image display apparatus may be amultifunctional display device. The image display apparatus may beequipped to provide multimedia content received over a network as wellas broadcast content received from a broadcast provider. Thus, the imagedisplay apparatus may be provided with various types of user-friendlyinput devices such as a handwriting input device, a touch screen, apointing device, or another appropriate type of input device.Furthermore, because the image display apparatus may be connected to theInternet, it may be configured to provide various functions includinge-mail, web browsing, online banking, gaming, or another appropriatetype of online activity by connecting directly to the Internet or acomputer having Internet access. Moreover, to implement these functions,the image display apparatus may operate based on a standardgeneral-purpose Operating System (OS).

Various applications may be freely added to or deleted from, forexample, a general-purpose OS kernel in the image display apparatus.Hence, the image display apparatus may be configured as a network TV, aHybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV), a smart TV, or anotherappropriate type of networked display device. Moreover, the imagedisplay apparatus may be implemented on a smart phone, as needed.

The image display apparatus may display various types of contentincluding still or video images as well as multimedia content. The imagedisplay apparatus may also display broadcast programs which may beselected from among a plurality of broadcast programs transmitted frombroadcasting stations. The broadcast programs may be digital content.

Digital broadcasting may offer many advantages over analog broadcasting.For example, digital broadcasting may provide improved noisecancellation, reduced data loss, improved error correction as well asthe ability to provide higher resolution images, such as high-definitioncontent. Moreover, digital broadcasting may allow for interactive viewerservices to be provided to the end user.

In an embodiment, the image display apparatus may provide a userinterface that includes a plurality of icons and card objectsrepresenting a plurality of content which may be accessed, for example,over the Internet. At least one of the plurality of icons may bepartially displayed to indicate to the user that additional icons orcard objects are available. A selection of the partially displayed iconsor card objects may scroll the displayed objects to display theadditional icons or card objects.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method foroperating an image display apparatus may include displaying a homescreen on a display, the home screen having a plurality of card objectsand an application menu with at least one application item, and uponselection of a first card object which is partially displayed on thedisplay from among the plurality of card objects, fully displaying theselected first card object, moving at least one of the card objectsdisplayed on the display to a hidden area, and displaying at least oneof card objects hidden in the hidden area on the display.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a methodfor operating an image display apparatus may include using a partiallydisplayed graphic object as a page switching or screen switching menu,among a plurality of graphic objects displayed on various screens. Inaccordance with a further aspect of the present disclosure, an imagedisplay apparatus may include a user input interface which may receivean input related to a plurality of graphic objects, and a controllerwhich may, upon selection of a partially displayed graphic object fromamong the plurality of graphic objects, control a display of a hiddengraphic object.

A method of controlling a display on a multifunctional display device,as embodied and broadly described herein, may include displaying a firstcard object in a first area of the display, the first card objectconfigured to display a video image; displaying a second card object ina second area of the display, the second card object having at least onelink for connecting to a content provider or to a storage device;displaying a third card object in a third area of the display such thatthe third card object is partially displayed on the display; receiving arequest to change the displayed card objects; and displaying, inresponse to the request, the third card object in the second area of thedisplay and partially displaying a fourth card object in the third areaof the display.

In this embodiment, a width of the partially displayed portion of thethird or fourth card object may be less than a width of a hidden portionof the third or fourth card object. The third area of the display may bepositioned at an outside edge of the display such that the partiallydisplayed portion of the third or fourth card object is displayed at theoutside edge of the display. The second area of the display may bepositioned adjacent to the first area of the display, and the third areamay be positioned adjacent to the second area opposite the first area.

Moreover, the displaying the third card object in the second area of thedisplay may include partially displaying the second card object in afourth area of the display, the fourth area positioned between the firstarea and the second area, wherein a selection of the second card objectdisplayed in the fourth area of the display causes the second cardobject to be displayed in the second area of the display and the thirdcard object to be partially displayed in the third area of the display.Moreover, displaying the third card object in the second area of thedisplay may include scrolling the third card object across the displayfrom the third area to the second area and scrolling the second cardobject across the display from the second area to the fourth area.

The at least one link may include a URL configured to retrieve amultimedia content stored on the content server. The at least one linkcorresponds to a channel in a broadcast signal, and wherein a selectionthe at least one link tunes a tuner in the multifunctional displaydevice to the channel. The at least one link is an icon.

In this embodiment, the third card object may include at least onethumbnail corresponding to at least one of a broadcast content, contentstored on the content server, or content stored on the storage device,wherein the at least one thumbnail includes a still image or a videoimage representative of the corresponding content. A selection of the atleast one thumbnail may cause the at least one of a broadcast content,content stored on the content server, or content stored on the storagedevice to be retrieved for display on the display. Moreover, thedisplayed content is displayed as a full screen image on the display.Alternatively, if the thumbnail corresponds to a video content, thevideo content may be displayed in the first card object.

The video image displayed in the first card object may also be at leastone of a broadcast video received at a tuner provided in themultifunctional display device, a streaming video received at a networkinterface provided in the multifunctional display device, or a videostored on a storage device provided in the multifunctional displaydevice. Furthermore, the receiving the request to change the displayedcard objects may include detecting a selection of the third card objectdisplayed in the third area of the display, the third card object beingselected using a cursor on the display that is controlled by a motionsensing remote controller.

In one embodiment, a multifunctional display apparatus may include atuner configured to tune to a channel of a broadcast signal; a networkinterface configured to receive data packets; a display module; awireless input interface to receive signals from a remote controller; astorage device to store data; a processor to control the display modulebased on a signal from the remote controller. Here, a first area of thedisplay module may display a first card object configured to display avideo received through a channel of the broadcast signal tuned by thetuner, a second area of the display module may display a second cardobject having at least one link configured to access a content server ora local storage device, and a third area of the display module maypartially displays a third card object, and wherein the signal from theremote controller causes the processor to control the display module todisplay the third card object in the second area of the display moduleand partially display a fourth card object in the third area of thedisplay module.

In another embodiment, a method of controlling a display on amultifunctional display device may include displaying at least one firsticon in a first area of the display; displaying at least one second iconin a second area of the display such that the second icon is partiallydisplayed on the display, wherein the at least one first and secondicons include at least one link for connecting to a content provider orto a storage device; receiving a selection of the at least one secondicon; scrolling, in response to the selection, the at least one firsticon out of the first area and scrolling the at least one second iconinto the first area of the display, and partially displaying at leastone third icon in the second area of the display.

In this method, selecting an icon displayed in the first area may causethe multifunctional display device to retrieve a corresponding contentfor display on the display, and selecting an icon displayed in thesecond area may cause the multifunctional display device to replace adisplayed icon with a hidden icon.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail withreference to the attached drawings, but it should be understood thatthey are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and should not beinterpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. The terms“module” and “unit” used to refer to components are used herein to helpin the understanding of the components, and thus, they should not beconsidered as having specific meanings or roles. Accordingly, the terms“module” and “unit” may be used interchangeably. In addition, althoughthe terms used in the present disclosure are selected from generallyknown and used terms, some of the terms mentioned in the description ofthe present disclosure, the detailed meanings of which are described inrelevant parts of the description herein, have been selected by theapplicant at his or her discretion. Furthermore, the present disclosuremust be understood, not simply by the actual terms used, but by themeanings of each term lying within.

The method for operating an image display apparatus according to theforegoing exemplary embodiments may be implemented as code that iswritten on a computer-readable recording medium and, can thus, be readby a processor. The computer-readable recording medium may be any typeof recording device in which data is stored in a computer-readablemanner. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium may include aROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, an optical datastorage, and a carrier wave (e.g., data transmission through theInternet). The computer-readable recording medium may be distributedover a plurality of computer systems connected to a network so thatcomputer-readable code is written thereto and executed therefrom in adecentralized manner. Functional programs, code, and code segmentsneeded to realize the embodiments herein may be construed by one ofordinary skill in the art.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within thepurview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image display apparatus, comprising: a tunerconfigured to tune to a channel of a broadcast signal; a networkinterface configured to receive data packets; a display module; a userinput interface to receive signals from a remote controller; a storagedevice to store data; and a controller to control the display modulebased on an input at the user input interface, wherein a first cardobject among a plurality of card objects is fully displayed in a firstarea of screen of the display module, a second card object among theplurality of card objects is partially displayed in a second area thatis provided adjacent a right side of the first area, a third card objectamong the plurality of card objects is partially displayed in a thirdarea that is provided adjacent a left side of the first area, anindicator object is displayed that indicates available card objectsincluding a card object that is displayed in the first area, in responseto the input received at the user input interface, the first card objectdisplayed in the first area is moved to the third area and the firstcard object is partially displayed in the third area, and in response tothe input received at the user input interface, the second card objectdisplayed in the second area is moved to the first area and the secondcard object is fully displayed in the first area, wherein the pluralityof card objects are classified based on a type of content associatedwith the card objects, wherein the plurality of card objects include acard object representing a thumbnail list of broadcast channels, a cardobject representing a media list, and a card object representing a listof applications, and wherein the partially displayed card objects in thesecond area and the third area are distinguished from the card objectdisplayed in the first area based on at least one of a color, tint,brightness, shading or fading.
 2. The image display apparatus of claim1, wherein the user input interface includes a sensor that senses a usergesture.
 3. The image display apparatus of claim 1, further including ademux for demultiplexing a received packet into audio data and videodata.
 4. The image display apparatus of claim 3, further including anaudio decoder and a video decoder for decoding audio data and video datareceived from the demux.
 5. An image display apparatus, comprising: atuner configured to tune to a channel of a broadcast signal; a networkinterface configured to receive data packets; a display module; a userinput interface to receive signals from a remote controller; a storagedevice to store data; and a controller to control the display modulebased on an input at the user input interface, wherein a first cardobject among a plurality of card objects is fully displayed in a firstarea of screen of the display module, a second card object among theplurality of card objects is partially displayed in a second area thatis provided adjacent a right side of the first area, a third card objectamong the plurality of card objects is partially displayed in a thirdarea that is provided adjacent a left side of the first area, anindicator object is displayed that indicates available card objectsincluding a card object that is displayed in the first area, in responseto the input received at the user input interface, the first card objectdisplayed in the first area is moved to the third area and the firstcard object is partially displayed in the third area, in response to theinput received at the user input interface, the second card objectdisplayed in the second area is moved to the first area and the secondcard object is fully displayed in the first area, and wherein theplurality of card objects are classified based on a type of contentassociated with the card objects, wherein the plurality of card objectsinclude a card object representing a thumbnail list of broadcastchannels, a card object representing a media list, and a card objectrepresenting a list of applications, wherein the partially displayedcard objects in the second area and the third area are distinguishedfrom the card object displayed in the first area based on at least oneof a color, tint, brightness, shading or fading, and wherein the inputreceived at the user input interface is a user gesture input.
 6. Theimage display apparatus of claim 5, wherein the user input interfaceincludes a sensor that senses a user gesture.
 7. The image displayapparatus of claim 5, further including a demux for demultiplexing areceived packet into audio data and video data.
 8. The image displayapparatus of claim 7, further including an audio decoder and a videodecoder for decoding audio data and video data received from the demux.9. An image display apparatus, comprising: a tuner configured to tune toa channel of a broadcast signal; a network interface configured toreceive data packets; a display module; a user input interface toreceive signals from a remote controller; a storage device to storedata; and a controller to control the display module based on an inputat the user input interface, wherein a first card object among aplurality of card objects is fully displayed in a first area of screenof the display module, a second card object among the plurality of cardobjects is partially displayed in a second area that is providedadjacent a right side of the first area, a third card object among theplurality of card objects is partially displayed in a third area that isprovided adjacent a left side of the first area, an indicator object isdisplayed that indicates available card objects including a card objectthat is displayed in the first area, in response to the input receivedat the user input interface, the first card object displayed in thefirst area is moved to the third area and the first card object ispartially displayed in the third area, and in response to the inputreceived at the user input interface, the second card object displayedin the second area is moved to the first area and the second card objectis fully displayed in the first area, wherein the plurality of cardobjects are classified based on a type of content associated with thecard objects, wherein the plurality of card objects include a cardobject representing a thumbnail list of broadcast channels, a cardobject representing a media list, and a card object representing a listof applications, wherein the partially displayed card objects in thesecond area and the third area are distinguished from the card objectdisplayed in the first area based on at least one of a color, tint,brightness, shading or fading, and wherein the input received at theuser input interface is based on an input at the remote controller. 10.The image display apparatus of claim 9, wherein the user input interfaceincludes a sensor that senses a user gesture, the input at the userinput interface being a user gesture input or a signal from the remotecontroller.
 11. The image display apparatus of claim 9, furtherincluding a demux for demultiplexing a received packet into audio dataand video data.
 12. The image display apparatus of claim 11, furtherincluding an audio decoder and a video decoder for decoding audio dataand video data received from the demux.
 13. An apparatus for generatingan image for an image display device, comprising: a network interfaceconfigured to receive data packets; a user input interface to receivesignals from a remote controller; a storage device to store data; and acontroller to control the display module based on an input at the userinput interface, wherein a first card object among a plurality of cardobjects is fully displayed in a first area of screen of the displaymodule, a second card object among the plurality of card objects ispartially displayed in a second area that is provided adjacent a rightside of the first area, a third card object among the plurality of cardobjects is partially displayed in a third area that is provided adjacenta left side of the first area, an indicator object is displayed thatindicates available card objects including a card object that isdisplayed in the first area, in response to the input received at theuser input interface, the first card object displayed in the first areais moved to the third area and the first card object is partiallydisplayed in the third area, and in response to the input received atthe user input interface, the second card object displayed in the secondarea is moved to the first area and the second card object is fullydisplayed in the first area, wherein the plurality of card objects areclassified based on a type of content associated with the card objects,wherein the plurality of card objects include a card object representinga thumbnail list of broadcast channels, a card object representing amedia list, and a card object representing a list of applications, andwherein the partially displayed card objects in the second area and thethird area are distinguished from the card object displayed in the firstarea based on at least one of a color, tint, brightness, shading orfading.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the user input interfaceincludes a sensor that senses a user gesture.
 15. The apparatus of claim13, further including a demux for demultiplexing a received packet intoaudio data and video data.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, furtherincluding an audio decoder and a video decoder for decoding audio dataand video data received from the demux.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the apparatus for generating an image for an image displaydevice is a set-top box.
 18. A method for controlling an image displayapparatus, comprising: tuning to a channel of a broadcast signal;receiving data at a network interface; storing data on a storage device;receiving an input at a user input interface; fully displaying a firstcard object among a plurality of card objects in a first area of screenof the display module; partially displaying a second card object amongthe plurality of card objects in a second area that is provided adjacenta right side of the first area; partially displaying a third card objectamong the plurality of card objects in a third area that is providedadjacent a left side of the first area; displaying an indicator objectthat indicates available card objects including a card object that isdisplayed in the first area; in response to the input received at theuser input interface, moving the first card object displayed in thefirst area to the third area and partially displaying the first cardobject in the third area; and in response to the input received at theuser input interface, moving the second card object displayed in thesecond area to the first area and fully displaying the second cardobject in the first area, wherein the plurality of card objects areclassified based on a type of content associated with the card objects,wherein the plurality of card objects include a card object representinga thumbnail list of broadcast channels, a card object representing amedia list, and a card object representing a list of applications, andwherein the partially displayed card objects in the second area and thethird area are distinguished from the card object displayed in the firstarea based on at least one of a color, tint, brightness, shading orfading.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the receiving the user inputinterface includes sensing a user gesture using a sensor.
 20. The methodof claim 18, further including demultiplexing a received packet intoaudio data and video data.
 21. The method of claim 20, further includingdecoding audio data and video data received from the demux.
 22. A methodfor controlling an image display apparatus, comprising: tuning to achannel of a broadcast signal; receiving data at a network interface;storing data on a storage device; receiving an input at a user inputinterface; fully displaying a first card object among a plurality ofcard objects in a first area of screen of the display module; partiallydisplaying a second card object among the plurality of card objects in asecond area that is provided adjacent a right side of the first area;partially displaying a third card object among the plurality of cardobjects in a third area that is provided adjacent a left side of thefirst area; displaying an indicator object that indicates available cardobjects including a card object that is displayed in the first area; inresponse to the input received at the user input interface, moving thefirst card object displayed in the first area to the third area andpartially displaying the first card object in the third area; and inresponse to the input received at the user input interface, moving thesecond card object displayed in the second area to the first area andfully displaying the second card object in the first area, wherein theplurality of card objects are classified based on a type of contentassociated with the card objects, wherein the plurality of card objectsinclude a card object representing a thumbnail list of broadcastchannels, a card object representing a media list, and a card objectrepresenting a list of applications, and wherein the partially displayedcard objects in the second area and the third area are distinguishedfrom the card object displayed in the first area based on at least oneof a color, tint, brightness, shading or fading, and wherein the inputreceived at the user input interface is a user gesture input.
 23. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the receiving the user input interfaceincludes sensing a user gesture using a sensor.
 24. The method of claim22, further including demultiplexing a received packet into audio dataand video data.
 25. The method of claim 24, further including decodingaudio data and video data received from the demux.
 26. A method forcontrolling an image display apparatus, comprising: tuning to a channelof a broadcast signal; receiving data at a network interface; storingdata on a storage device; receiving an input at a user input interface;fully displaying a first card object among a plurality of card objectsin a first area of screen of the display module; partially displaying asecond card object among the plurality of card objects in a second areathat is provided adjacent a right side of the first area; partiallydisplaying a third card object among the plurality of card objects in athird area that is provided adjacent a left side of the first area;displaying an indicator object that indicates available card objectsincluding a card object that is displayed in the first area; in responseto the input received at the user input interface, moving the first cardobject displayed in the first area to the third area and partiallydisplaying the first card object in the third area; and in response tothe input received at the user input interface, moving the second cardobject displayed in the second area to the first area and fullydisplaying the second card object in the first area, wherein theplurality of card objects are classified based on a type of contentassociated with the card objects, wherein the plurality of card objectsinclude a card object representing a thumbnail list of broadcastchannels, a card object representing a media list, and a card objectrepresenting a list of applications, and wherein the partially displayedcard objects in the second area and the third area are distinguishedfrom the card object displayed in the first area based on at least oneof a color, tint, brightness, shading or fading, and wherein the inputreceived at the user input interface is based on an input at the remotecontroller.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the receiving the userinput interface includes sensing a user gesture input or receiving asignal from the remote controller.
 28. The method of claim 26, furtherincluding demultiplexing a received packet into audio data and videodata.
 29. The method of claim 28, further including decoding audio dataand video data received from the demux.
 30. A method for controlling aset-top box, comprising: receiving data at a network interface; storingdata on a storage device; receiving an input at a user input interface;fully displaying a first card object among a plurality of card objectsin a first area of screen of the display module; partially displaying asecond card object among the plurality of card objects in a second areathat is provided adjacent a right side of the first area; partiallydisplaying a third card object among the plurality of card objects in athird area that is provided adjacent a left side of the first area;displaying an indicator object that indicates available card objectsincluding a card object that is displayed in the first area; in responseto the input received at the user input interface, moving the first cardobject displayed in the first area to the third area and partiallydisplaying the first card object in the third area; and in response tothe input received at the user input interface, moving the second cardobject displayed in the second area to the first area and fullydisplaying the second card object in the first area, wherein theplurality of card objects are classified based on a type of contentassociated with the card objects, wherein the plurality of card objectsinclude a card object representing a thumbnail list of broadcastchannels, a card object representing a media list, and a card objectrepresenting a list of applications, and wherein the partially displayedcard objects in the second area and the third area are distinguishedfrom the card object displayed in the first area based on at least oneof a color, tint, brightness, shading or fading.
 31. The method of claim30, wherein the receiving the user input interface includes sensing auser gesture using a sensor.
 32. The method of claim 30, furtherincluding demultiplexing a received packet into audio data and videodata.
 33. The method of claim 32, further including decoding audio dataand video data received from the demux.